Nucleic acid sequences to proteins involved in tocopherol synthesis

ABSTRACT

Nucleic acid sequences and methods are provided for producing plants and seeds having altered tocopherol content and compositions. The methods find particular use in increasing the tocopherol levels in plants, and in providing desirable tocopherol compositions in a host plant cell.

INCORPORATION OF SEQUENCE LISTING

A paper copy of the Sequence Listing and a computer readable form of the sequence listing on diskette, containing the file named SeqList.txt, which is 126,173 bytes in size (measured in MS-DOS), and which was created on Aug. 2, 2001, are herein incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention is directed to nucleic acid and amino acid sequences and constructs, and methods related thereto.

BACKGROUND

Isoprenoids are ubiquitous compounds found in all living organisms. Plants synthesize a diverse array of greater than 22,000 isoprenoids (Connolly and Hill (1992) Dictionary of Terpenoids, Chapman and Hall, New York, N.Y.). In plants, isoprenoids play essential roles in particular cell functions such as production of sterols, contributing to eukaryotic membrane architecture, acyclic polyprenoids found in the side chain of ubiquinone and plastoquinone, growth regulators like abscisic acid, gibberellins, brassinosteroids or the photosynthetic pigments chlorophylls and carotenoids. Although the physiological role of other plant isoprenoids is less evident, like that of the vast array of secondary metabolites, some are known to play key roles mediating the adaptative responses to different environmental challenges. In spite of the remarkable diversity of structure and function, all isoprenoids originate from a single metabolic precursor, isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) (Wright, (1961) Annu. Rev. Biochem. 20:525-548; and Spurgeon and Porter, (1981) in Biosynthesis of Isoprenoids Compounds., Porter and Spurgeon eds (John Wiley, New York) Vol. 1, pp 1-46).

A number of unique and interconnected biochemical pathways derived from the isoprenoid pathway leading to secondary metabolites, including tocopherols, exist in chloroplasts of higher plants. Tocopherols not only perform vital functions in plants, but are also important from mammalian nutritional perspectives. In plastids, tocopherols account for up to 40% of the total quinone pool.

Tocopherols and tocotrienols (unsaturated tocopherol derivatives) are well known antioxidants, and play an important role in protecting cells from free radical damage, and in the prevention of many diseases, including cardiac disease, cancer, cataracts, retinopathy, Alzheimer's disease, and neurodegeneration, and have been shown to have beneficial effects on symptoms of arthritis, and in anti-aging. Vitamin E is used in chicken feed for improving the shelf life, appearance, flavor, and oxidative stability of meat, and to transfer tocols from feed to eggs. Vitamin E has been shown to be essential for normal reproduction, improves overall performance, and enhances immunocompetence in livestock animals. Vitamin E supplement in animal feed also imparts oxidative stability to milk products.

The demand for natural tocopherols as supplements has been steadily growing at a rate of 10-20% for the past three years. At present, the demand exceeds the supply for natural tocopherols, which are known to be more biopotent than racemic mixtures of synthetically produced tocopherols. Naturally occurring tocopherols are all d-stereomers, whereas synthetic α-tocopherol is a mixture of eight d,1-α-tocopherol isomers, only one of which (12.5%) is identical to the natural d-α-tocopherol. Natural d-α-tocopherol has the highest vitamin E activity (1.49 IU/mg) when compared to other natural tocopherols or tocotrienols. The synthetic α-tocopherol has a vitamin E activity of 1.1 IU/mg. In 1995, the worldwide market for raw refined As tocopherols was $1020 million; synthetic materials comprised 85-88% of the market, the remaining 12-15% being natural materials. The best sources of natural tocopherols and tocotrienols are vegetable oils and grain products. Currently, most of the natural Vitamin E is produced from γ-tocopherol derived from soy oil processing, which is subsequently converted to α-tocopherol by chemical modification (α-tocopherol exhibits the greatest biological activity).

Methods of enhancing the levels of tocopherols and tocotrienols in plants, especially levels of the more desirable compounds that can be used directly, without chemical modification, would be useful to the art as such molecules exhibit better functionality and biovailability.

In addition, methods for the increased production of other isoprenoid derived compounds in a host plant cell is desirable. Furthermore, methods for the production of particular isoprenoid compounds in a host plant cell is also needed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to sequences to proteins involved in tocopherol synthesis. The polynucleotides and polypeptides of the present invention include those derived from prokaryotic and eukaryotic sources.

Thus, one aspect of the present invention relates to prenyltransferase, and in particular to isolated polynucleotide sequences encoding prenyltransferase proteins and polypeptides related thereto. In particular, isolated nucleic acid sequences encoding prenyltransferase proteins from bacterial and plant sources are provided.

In another aspect, the present invention provides isolated polynucleotide sequences encoding tocopherol cyclase, and polypeptides related thereto. In particular, isolated nucleic acid sequences encoding tocopherol cyclase proteins from bacterial and plant sources are provided.

Another aspect of the present invention relates to oligonucleotides which include partial or complete prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase encoding sequences.

It is also an aspect of the present invention to provide recombinant DNA constructs which can be used for transcription or transcription and translation (expression) of prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase. In particular, constructs are provided which are capable of transcription or transcription and translation in host-cells.

In another aspect of the present invention, methods are provided for production of prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase in a host cell or progeny thereof. In particular, host cells are transformed or transfected with a DNA construct which can be used for transcription or transcription and translation of prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase. The recombinant cells which contain prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase are also part of the present invention.

In a further aspect, the present invention relates to methods of using polynucleotide and polypeptide sequences to modify the tocopherol content of host cells, particularly in host plant cells. Plant cells having such a modified tocopherol content are also contemplated herein. Methods and cells in which both prenyltransferase and tocopherol cyclase are expressed in a host cell are also part of the present invention.

The modified plants, seeds and oils obtained by the expression of the prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase are also considered part of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 provides an amino acid sequence alignment between ATPT2 (SEQ ID NO: 2), ATPT3 (SEQ ID NO: 4), ATPT4 (SEQ ID NO: 6), ATPT8 (SEQ ID NO: 12), and ATPT12 (SEQ ID NO: 17) performed using ClustalW.

FIG. 2 provides a schematic picture of the expression construct pCGN10800.

FIG. 3 provides a schematic picture of the expression construct pCGN10801.

FIG. 4 provides a schematic picture of the expression construct pCGN10803.

FIG. 5 provides a schematic picture of the construct pCGN10806.

FIG. 6 provides a schematic picture of the construct pCGN10807.

FIG. 7 provides a schematic picture of the construct pCGN10808.

FIG. 8 provides a schematic picture of the expression construct pCGN10809.

FIG. 9 provides a schematic picture of the expression construct pCGN10810.

FIG. 10 provides a schematic picture of the expression construct pCGN10811.

FIG. 11 provides a schematic picture of the expression construct pCGN10812.

FIG. 12 provides a schematic picture of the expression construct pCGN10813.

FIG. 13 provides a schematic picture of the expression construct pCGN10814.

FIG. 14 provides a schematic picture of the expression construct pCGN10815.

FIG. 15 provides a schematic picture of the expression construct pCGN10816.

FIG. 16 provides a schematic picture of the expression construct pCGN10817.

FIG. 17 provides a schematic picture of the expression construct pCGN10819.

FIG. 18 provides a schematic picture of the expression construct pCGN10824.

FIG. 19 provides a schematic picture of the expression construct pCGN10825.

FIG. 20 provides a schematic picture of the expression construct pCGN10826.

FIG. 21 provides an amino acid sequence alignment using ClustalW between the Synechocystis prenyltransferase sequences, slr1736 (SEQ ID NO: 37), slr0926 (SEQ ID NO: 32), sll1899 (SEQ ID NO: 33), slr0056 (SEQ ID NO: 34), and slr1518 (SEQ ID NO: 35).

FIG. 22 provides a n amino acid sequence of the ATPT2 (SEQ ID NO: 2), ATPT3 (SEQ ID NO: 4), ATPT4 (SEQ ID NO: 6), ATPT8 (SEQ ID NO: 12), and ATPT12 (SEQ ID NO: 17) protein sequences from Arabidopsis and the slr1736 (SEQ ID NO: 37), slr0926 (SEQ ID NO: 32), sll1899 (SEQ ID NO: 33), slr0056 (SEQ ID NO: 34), and the slr1518 (SEQ ID NO: 35) amino acid sequences from Synechocystis.

FIG. 23 provides the results of the enzymatic assay from preparations of wild type Synechocystis strain 6803, and Synechocystis slr1736 knockout.

FIG. 24 provides bar graphs of HPLC data obtained from seed extracts of transgenic Arabidopsis containing pCGN10822, which provides of the expression of the ATPT2 sequence, in the sense orientation, from the napin promoter. Provided are graphs for alpha, gamma, and delta tocopherols, as well as total tocopherol for 22 transformed lines, as well as a nontransformed (wildtype) control.

FIG. 25 provides a bar graph of HPLC analysis of seed extracts from Arabidopsis plants transformed with pCGN10803 (35S-ATPT2, in the antisense orientation), pCGN10822 (line 1625, napin ATPT2 in the sense orientation), pCGN10809 (line 1627, 35S-ATPT3 in the sense orientation), a nontransformed (wt) control, and an empty vector transformed control.

FIG. 26 shows total tocopherol levels measured in T# Arabidopsis seed of line.

FIG. 27 shows total tocopherol levels measured in T# Arabidopsis seed of line.

FIG. 28 shows total tocopherol levels measured in developing canola seed of line.

FIG. 29 shows results of phytyl prenyltransferase activity assay using Synechocystis wild type and slr1737 knockout mutant membrane preparations.

FIG. 30 is the chromatograph from an HPLC analysis of Synechocystis extracts.

FIG. 31 is a sequence alignment of the Arabidopsis homologue (SEQ ID NO: 113) with the sequence of the public database (SEQ ID NO: 112).

FIG. 32 shows the results of hydropathic analysis of slr1737

FIG. 33 shows the results of hydropathic analysis of the Arabidopsis homologue of slr1737.

FIG. 34 shows the catalytic mechanism of various cyclase enzymes

FIG. 35 is a sequence alignment of slr1737 (SEQ ID NO: 39), slr1737 Arabidopsis homologue (SEQ ID NO: 110) and the Arabidopsis chalcone isomerase (SEQ ID NO: 111).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides, inter alia, compositions and methods for altering (for example, increasing and decreasing) the tocopherol levels and/or modulating their ratios in host cells. In particular, the present invention provides polynucleotides, polypeptides, and methods of use thereof for the modulation of tocopherol content in host plant cells.

The biosynthesis of α-tocopherol in higher plants involves condensation of homogentisic acid and phytylpyrophosphate to form 2-methyl-6 phytylbenzoquinol that can, by cyclization and subsequent methylations (Fiedler et al., 1982, Planta, 155: 511-515, Soll et al., 1980, Arch Biochem. Biophys. 204: 544-550, Marshall et al., 1985 Phylochem., 24: 1705-1711, all of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety), form various tocopherols.

The Arabidopsis pds2 mutant identified and characterized by Norris et al. (1995), is deficient in tocopherol and plastiquinone-9 accumulation. Further genetic and biochemical analysis suggested that the protein encoded by PDS2 may be responsible for the prenylation of homogentisic acid. The PDS2 locus identified by Norris et al. (1 995) has been hypothesized to possibly encode the tocopherol phytyl-prenyltransferase, as the pds2 mutant fails to accumulate tocopherols.

Norris et al. (1995) determined that in Arabidopsis pds2 lies at the top of chromosome 3, approximately 7 centimorgans above long hypocotyl2, based on the genetic map. ATPT2 is located on chromosome 2 between 36 and 41 centimorgans, lying on BAC F 19F24, indicating that ATPT2 does not correspond to PDS2. Thus, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide novel polynucleotides and polypeptides involved in the prenylation of homogentisic acid.

This reaction may be a rate limiting step in tocopherol biosynthesis, and this gene has yet to be isolated.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,432,069 describes the partial purification and characterization of tocopherol cyclase from Chlorella protoihecoides, Dunaliella salina and wheat. The cyclase described as being glycine rich, water soluble and with a predicted MW of 48-50 kDa. However, only limited peptide fragment sequences were available.

In one aspect, the present invention provides polynucleotide and polypeptide sequences involved in the prenylation of straight chain and aromatic compounds. Straight chain prenyltransferases as used herein comprises sequences which encode proteins involved in the prenylation of straight chain compounds, including, but not limited to, geranyl geranyl pyrophosphate and farnesyl pyrophosphate. Aromatic prenyltransferases, as used herein, comprises sequences which encode proteins involved in the prenylation of aromatic compounds, including, but not limited to, menaquinone, ubiquinone, chlorophyll, and homogentisic acid. The prenyltransferase of the present invention preferably prenylates homogentisic acid.

In another aspect, the invention provides polynucleotide and polypeptide sequences to tocopherol cyclization enzymes. The 2,3-dimethyl-5-phytylplastoguinol cyclase (tocopherol cyclase is responsible for the cyclization of 2,3-dimethyl-5-phytylplastoquinol to tocopherol.

Isolated Polynucleotides, Proteins, and Polypeptides

A first aspect of the present invention relates to isolated prenyltransferase polynucleotides. Another aspect of the present invention relates to isolated tocopherol cyclase polynucleotides. The polynucleotide sequences of the present invention include isolated polynucleotides that encode the polypeptides of the invention having a deduced amino acid sequence selected from the group of sequences set forth in the Sequence Listing and to other polynucleotide sequences closely related to such sequences and variants thereof.

The invention provides a polynucleotide sequence identical over its entire length to each coding sequence as set forth in the Sequence Listing. The invention also provides the coding sequence for the mature polypeptide or a fragment thereof, as well as the coding sequence for the mature polypeptide or a fragment thereof in a reading frame with other coding sequences, such as those encoding a leader or secretory sequence, a pre-, pro-, or prepro-protein sequence. The polynucleotide can also include non-coding sequences, including for example, but not limited to, non-coding 5′ and 3′ sequences, such as the transcribed, untranslated sequences, termination signals, ribosome binding sites, sequences that stabilize mRNA, introns, polyadenylation signals, and additional coding sequence that encodes additional amino acids. For example, a marker sequence can be included to facilitate the purification of the fused polypeptide. Polynucleotides of the present invention also include polynucleotides comprising a structural gene and the naturally associated sequences that control gene expression.

The invention also includes polynucleotides of the formula: X—(R₁)_(n)—(R₂)—(R₃)_(n)—Y wherein, at the 5′ end, X is hydrogen, and at the 3′ end, Y is hydrogen or a metal, R₁ and R₃ are any nucleic acid residue, n is an integer between 1 and 3000, preferably between 1 and 1000 and R₂ is a nucleic acid sequence of the invention, particularly a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group set forth in the Sequence Listing and preferably those of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13-16, 18, 23, 29, 36, and 38. In the formula, R₂ is oriented so that its 5′ end residue is at the left, bound to R₁, and its 3′ end residue is at the right, bound to R₃. Any stretch of nucleic acid residues denoted by either R group, where R is greater than 1, may be either a heteropolymer or a homopolymer, preferably a heteropolymer.

The invention also relates to variants of the polynucleotides described herein that encode for variants of the polypeptides of the invention. Variants that are fragments of the polynucleotides of the invention can be used to synthesize full-length polynucleotides of the invention. Preferred embodiments are polynucleotides encoding polypeptide variants wherein 5 to 10, 1 to 5, 1 to 3, 2, 1 or no amino acid residues of a polypeptide sequence of the invention are substituted, added or deleted, in any combination. Particularly preferred are substitutions, additions, and deletions that are silent such that they do not alter the properties or activities of the polynucleotide or polypeptide.

Further preferred embodiments of the invention that are at least 50%, 60%, or 70% identical over their entire length to a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide of the invention, and polynucleotides that are complementary to such polynucleotides. More preferable are polynucleotides that comprise a region that is at least 80% identical over its entire length to a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide of the invention and polynucleotides that are complementary thereto. In this regard, polynucleotides at least 90% identical over their entire length are particularly preferred, those at least 95% identical are especially preferred. Further, those with at least 97% identity are highly preferred and those with at least 98% and 99% identity are particularly highly preferred, with those at least 99% being the most highly preferred.

Preferred embodiments are polynucleotides that encode polypeptides that retain substantially the same biological function or activity as the mature polypeptides encoded by the polynucleotides set forth in the Sequence Listing.

The invention further relates to polynucleotides that hybridize to the above-described sequences. In particular, the invention relates to polynucleotides that hybridize under stringent conditions to the above-described polynucleotides. As used herein, the terms “stringent conditions” and “stringent hybridization conditions” mean that hybridization will generally occur if there is at least 95% and preferably at least 97% identity between the sequences. An example of stringent hybridization conditions is overnight incubation at 42° C. in a solution comprising 50% formamide, 5×SSC (150 mM NaCl, 15 mM trisodium citrate), 50 mM sodium phosphate (pH 7.6), 5×Denhardt's solution, 10% dextran sulfate, and 20 micrograms/milliliter denatured, sheared salmon sperm DNA, followed by washing the hybridization support in 0.1×SSC at approximately 65° C. Other hybridization and wash conditions are well known and are exemplified in Sambrook, et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Second Edition, cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. (1989), particularly Chapter 11.

The invention also provides a polynucleotide consisting essentially of a polynucleotide sequence obtainable by screening an appropriate library containing the complete gene for a polynucleotide sequence set for in the Sequence Listing under stringent hybridization conditions with a probe having the sequence of said polynucleotide sequence or a fragment thereof; and isolating said polynucleotide sequence. Fragments useful for obtaining such a polynucleotide include, for example, probes and primers as described herein.

As discussed herein regarding polynucleotide assays of the invention, for example, polynucleotides of the invention can be used as a hybridization probe for RNA, cDNA, or genomic DNA to isolate full length cDNAs or genomic clones encoding a polypeptide and to isolate cDNA or genomic clones of other genes that have a high sequence similarity to a polynucleotide set forth in the Sequence Listing. Such probes will generally comprise at least 15 bases. Preferably such probes will have at least 30 bases and can have at least 50 bases. Particularly preferred probes will have between 30 bases and 50 bases, inclusive.

The coding region of each gene that comprises or is comprised by a polynucleotide sequence set forth in the Sequence Listing may be isolated by screening using a DNA sequence provided in the Sequence Listing to synthesize an oligonucleotide probe. A labeled oligonucleotide having a sequence complementary to that of a gene of the invention is then used to screen a library of cDNA, genomic DNA or mRNA to identify members of the library which hybridize to the probe. For example, synthetic oligonucleotides are prepared which correspond to the prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase EST sequences. The oligonucleotides are used as primers in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques to obtain 5′ and 3′ terminal sequence of prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase genes. Alternatively, where oligonucleotides of low degeneracy can be prepared from particular prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase peptides, such probes may be used directly to screen gene libraries for prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase gene sequences. In particular, screening of cDNA libraries in phage vectors is useful in such methods due to lower levels of background hybridization.

Typically, a prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase sequence obtainable from the use of nucleic acid probes will show 60-70% sequence identity between the target prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase sequence and the encoding sequence used as a probe. However, lengthy sequences with as little as 50-60% sequence identity may also be obtained. The nucleic acid probes may be a lengthy fragment of the nucleic acid sequence, or may also be a shorter, oligonucleotide probe. When longer nucleic acid fragments are employed as probes (greater than about 100 bp), one may screen at lower stringencies in order to obtain sequences from the target sample which have 20-50% deviation (i.e., 50-80% sequence homology) from the sequences used as probe. Oligonucleotide probes can be considerably shorter than the entire nucleic acid sequence encoding an prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase enzyme, but should be at least about 10, preferably at least about 15, and more preferably at least about 20 nucleotides. A higher degree of sequence identity is desired when shorter regions are used as opposed to longer regions. It may thus be desirable to identify regions of highly conserved amino acid sequence to design oligonucleotide probes for detecting and recovering other related prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase genes. Shorter probes are often particularly useful for polymerase chain reactions (PCR), especially when highly conserved sequences can be identified. (See, Gould, et al., PNAS USA (1989) 86:1934-1938.).

Another aspect of the present invention relates to prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase polypeptides. Such polypeptides include isolated polypeptides set forth in the Sequence Listing, as well as polypeptides and fragments thereof, particularly those polypeptides which exhibit prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase activity and also those polypeptides which have at least 50%, 60% or 70% identity, preferably at least 80% identity, more preferably at least 90% identity, and most preferably at least 95% identity to a polypeptide sequence selected from the group of sequences set forth in the Sequence Listing, and also include portions of such polypeptides, wherein such portion of the polypeptide preferably includes at least 30 amino acids and more preferably includes at least 50 amino acids.

“Identity”, as is well understood in the art, is a relationship between two or more polypeptide sequences or two or more polynucleotide sequences, as determined by comparing the sequences. In the art, “identity” also means the degree of sequence relatedness between polypeptide or polynucleotide sequences, as determined by the match between strings of such sequences. “Identity” can be readily calculated by known methods including, but not limited to, those described in Computational Molecular Bioloy, Lesk, A. M., ed., Oxford University Press, New York (1988); Biocomputing: Informatics and Genome Projects, Smith, D. W., ed., Academic Press, New York, 1993; Computer Analysis of Sequence Data, Part I, Griffin, A. M. and Griffin, H. G., eds., Humana Press, New Jersey (1994); Sequence Analysis in Molecular Biology, von Heinje, G., Academic Press (1987); Sequence Analysis Primer, Gribskov, M. and Devereux, J., eds., Stockton Press, New York.(1991); and Carillo, H., and Lipman, D., SIAM J Applied Math, 48:1073 (1988). Methods to determine identity are designed to give the largest match between the sequences tested. Moreover, methods to determine identity are codified in publicly available programs. Computer programs which can be used to determine identity between two sequences include, but are not limited to, GCG (Devereux, J., et al., Nucleic Acids Research 12(1):387 (1984); suite of five BLAST programs, three designed for nucleotide sequences queries (BLASTN, BLASTX, and TBLASTX) and two designed for protein sequence queries (BLASTP and TBLASTN) (Coulson, Trends in Biotechnology, 12: 76-80 (1994); Birren, et al., Genome Analysis, 1: 543-559 (1997)). The BLAST X program is publicly available from NCBI and other sources (BLAST Manual, Altschul, S., et al., NCBI NLM NIH, Bethesda, Md. 20894; Altschul, S., et al., J. Mol. Biol., 215:403410 (1990)). The well known Smith Waterman algorithm can also be used to determine identity.

Parameters for polypeptide sequence comparison typically include the following:

Algorithm: Needleman and Wunsch, J. Mol. Biol. 48:443-453 (1970) Comparison matrix: BLOSSUM62 from Hentikoff and Hentikoff, Proc. Nalt. Acad. Sci USA 89:10915-10919(1992)

Gap Penalty: 12

Gap Length Penalty: 4

A program which can be used with these parameters is publicly available as the “gap” program from Genetics Computer Group, Madison Wis. The above parameters along with no penalty for end gap are the default parameters for peptide comparisons.

Parameters for polynucleotide sequence comparison include the following:

Algorithm: Needleman and Wunsch, J. Mol. Biol. 48:443453 (1970)

Comparison matrix: matches=+10; mismatches=0

Gap Penalty: 50

Gap Length Penalty: 3

A program which can be used with these parameters is publicly available as the “gap” program from Genetics Computer Group, Madison Wis. The above parameters are the default parameters for nucleic acid comparisons.

The invention also includes polypeptides of the formula: X—(R₁)_(n)—(R₂)—(R₃)_(n)—Y wherein, at the amino terminus, X is hydrogen, and at the carboxyl terminus, Y is hydrogen or a metal, R₁ and R₃ are any amino acid residue, n is an integer between 1 and 1000, and R₂ is an amino acid sequence of the invention, particularly an amino acid sequence selected from the group set forth in the Sequence Listing and preferably those encoded by the sequences provided in SEQ ID NOs: 2, 4, 6, 9, 12, 17, 19-22, 24-28, 30, 32-35, 37, and 39. In the formula, R₂ is oriented so that its amino terminal residue is at the left, bound to R₁, and its carboxy terminal residue is at the right, bound to R₃. Any stretch of amino acid residues denoted by either R group, where R is greater than 1, may be either a heteropolymer or a homopolymer, preferably a heteropolymer.

Polypeptides of the present invention include isolated polypeptides encoded by a polynucleotide comprising a sequence selected from the group of a sequence contained in the Sequence Listing set forth herein .

The polypeptides of the present invention can be mature protein or can be part of a fusion protein.

Fragments and variants of the polypeptides are also considered to be a part of the invention. A fragment is a variant polypeptide which has an amino acid sequence that is entirely the same as part but not all of the amino acid sequence of the previously described polypeptides. The fragments can be “free-standing” or comprised within a larger polypeptide of which the fragment forms a part or a region, most preferably as a single continuous region. Preferred fragments are biologically active fragments which are those fragments that mediate activities of the polypeptides of the invention, including those with similar activity or improved activity or with a decreased activity. Also included are those fragments that antigenic or immunogenic in an animal, particularly a human.

Variants of the polypeptide also include polypeptides that vary from the sequences set forth in the Sequence Listing by conservative amino acid substitutions, substitution of a residue by another with like characteristics. In general, such substitutions are among Ala, Val, Leu and Ile; between Ser and Thr; between Asp and Glu; between Asn and Gln; between Lys and Arg; or between Phe and Tyr. Particularly preferred are variants in which 5 to 10; 1 to 5; 1 to 3 or one amino acid(s) are substituted, deleted, or added, in any combination.

Variants that are fragments of the polypeptides of the invention can be used to produce the corresponding full length polypeptide by peptide synthesis. Therefore, these variants can be used as intermediates for producing the full-length polypeptides of the invention.

The polynucleotides and polypeptides of the invention can be used, for example, in the transformation of host cells, such as plant host cells, as further discussed herein.

The invention also provides polynucleotides that encode a polypeptide that is a mature protein plus additional amino or carboxyl-terminal amino acids, or amino acids within the mature polypeptide (for example, when the mature form of the protein has more than one polypeptide chain). Such sequences can, for example, play a role in the processing of a protein from a precursor to a mature form, allow protein transport, shorten or lengthen protein half-life, or facilitate manipulation of the protein in assays or production. It is contemplated that cellular enzymes can be used to remove any additional amino acids from the mature protein.

A precursor protein, having the mature form of the polypeptide fused to one or more prosequences may be an inactive form of the polypeptide. The inactive precursors generally are activated when the prosequences are removed. Some or all of the prosequences may be removed prior to activation. Such precursor protein are generally called proproteins.

Plant Constructs and Methods of Use

Of particular interest is the use of the nucleotide sequences in recombinant DNA constructs to direct the transcription or transcription and translation (expression) of the prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase sequences of the present invention in a host plant cell. The expression constructs generally comprise a promoter functional in a host plant cell operably linked to a nucleic acid sequence encoding a prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase of the present invention and a transcriptional termination region functional in a host plant cell.

A first nucleic acid sequence is “operably linked” or “operably associated” with a second nucleic acid sequence when the sequences are so arranged that the first nucleic acid sequence affects the function of the second nucleic-acid sequence. Preferably, the two sequences are part of a single contiguous nucleic acid molecule and more preferably are adjacent. For example, a promoter is operably linked to a gene if the promoter regulates or mediates transcription of the gene in a cell.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that there are a number of promoters which are functional in plant cells, and have been described in the literature. Chloroplast and plastid specific promoters, chloroplast or plastid functional promoters, and chloroplast or plastid in operable promoters are also envisioned.

One set of plant functional promoters are constitutive promoters such as the CaMV35S or FMV35S promoters that yield high levels of expression in most plant organs. Enhanced or duplicated versions of the CaMV35S and FMV35S promoters are useful in the practice of this invention (Odell, et al. (1985) Nature 313:810-812; Rogers, U.S. Pat. No. 5,378, 619). In addition, it may also be preferred to bring about expression of the prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase gene in specific tissues of the plant, such as leaf, stem, root, tuber, seed, fruit, etc., and the promoter chosen should have the desired tissue and developmental specificity.

Of particular interest is the expression of the nucleic acid sequences of the present invention from transcription initiation regions which are preferentially expressed in a plant seed tissue. Examples of such seed preferential transcription initiation sequences include those sequences derived from sequences encoding plant storage protein genes or from genes involved in fatty acid biosynthesis in oilseeds. Examples of such promoters include the 5′ regulatory regions from such genes as napin (Kridl et al., Seed Sci. Res. 1:209:219 (1991)), phaseolin, zein, soybean trypsin inhibitor, ACP, stearoyl-ACP desaturase, soybean α′ subunit of β-conglycinin (soy 7s, (Chen et al., Proc. Nalt. Acad. Sci., 83:8560-8564 (1986))) and oleosin.

It may be advantageous to direct the localization of proteins conferring prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase to a particular subcellular compartment, for example, to the mitochondrion, endoplasmic reticulum, vacuoles, chloroplast or other plastidic compartment. For example, where the genes of interest of the present invention will be targeted to plastids, such as chloroplasts, for expression, the constructs will also employ the use of sequences to direct the gene to the plastid. Such sequences are referred to herein as chloroplast transit peptides (CTP) or plastid transit peptides (PTP). In this manner, where the gene of interest is not directly inserted into the plastid, the expression construct will additionally contain a gene encoding a transit peptide to direct the gene of interest to the plastid. The chloroplast transit peptides may be derived from the gene of interest, or may be derived from a heterologous sequence having a CTP. Such transit peptides are known in the art. See, for example, Von Heijne et al. (1991) Plant Mol. Biol. Rep. 9:104-126; Clark et al. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264:17544-17550; della-Cioppa et al. (1987) Plant Physiol. 84:965-968; Romer et al. (1993) Biochem. Biophys. Res Commun. 196:1414-1421; and, Shah et al. (1986) Science 233:478481.

Depending upon the intended use, the constructs may contain the nucleic acid sequence which encodes the entire prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase protein, or a portion thereof. For example, where antisense inhibition of a given prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase protein is desired, the entire prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase sequence is not required. Furthermore, where prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase sequences used in constructs are intended for use as probes, it may be advantageous to prepare constructs containing only a particular portion of a prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase encoding sequence, for example a sequence which is discovered to encode a highly conserved prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase region.

The skilled artisan will recognize that there are various methods for the inhibition of expression of endogenous sequences in a host cell. Such methods include, but are not limited to, antisense suppression (Smith, et al. (1988) Nature 334:724-726), co-suppression (Napoli, et al. (1989) Plant Cell 2:279-289), ribozymes (PCT Publication WO 97/10328), and combinations of sense and antisense Waterhouse, et al. (1998) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:13959-13964. Methods for the suppression of endogenous sequences in a host cell typically employ the transcription or transcription and translation of at least a portion of the sequence to be suppressed. Such sequences may be homologous to coding as well as non-coding regions of the endogenous sequence.

Regulatory transcript termination regions may be provided in plant expression constructs of this invention as well. Transcript termination regions may be provided by the DNA sequence encoding the prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase or a convenient transcription termination region derived from a different gene source, for example, the transcript termination region which is naturally associated with the transcript initiation region. The skilled artisan will recognize that any convenient transcript termination region which is capable of terminating transcription in a plant cell may be employed in the constructs of the present invention.

Alternatively, constructs may be prepared to direct the expression of the prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase sequences directly from the host plant cell plastid. Such constructs and methods are known in the art and are generally described, for example, in Svab, et al. (1990) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 87:8526-8530 and Svab and Maliga (1993) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90:913-917 and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,693,507.

The prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase constructs of the present invention can be used in transformation methods with additional constructs providing for the expression of other nucleic acid sequences encoding proteins involved in the production of tocopherols, or tocopherol precursors such as homogentisic acid and/or phytylpyrophosphate. Nucleic acid sequences encoding proteins involved in the production of homogentisic acid are known in the art, and include but not are limited to, 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD, EC 1.13.11.27) described for example, by Garcia, et al. ((1999) Plant Physiol. 119(4)1507-1516), mono or bifunctional tyrA (described for example by Xia, et al. (1992) J. Gen Microbiol. 138:1309-1316, and Hudson, et al. (1984) J. Mol. Biol. 180:1023-1051), Oxygenase, 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate di-(9CI), 4-Hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase; p-Hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase; p-Hydroxyphenylpyruvate hydroxylase; p-Hydroxyphenylpyruvate oxidase; p-Hydroxyphenylpyruvic acid hydroxylase; p-Hydroxyphenylpyruvic hydroxylase; p-Hydroxyphenylpyruvic oxidase), 4-hydroxyphenylacetate, NAD(P)H:oxygen oxidoreductase (1-hydroxylating); 4-hydroxyphenylacetate 1-monooxygenase, and the like. In addition, constructs for the expression of nucleic acid sequences encoding proteins involved in the production of phytylpyrophosphate can also be employed with the prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase constructs of the present invention. Nucleic acid sequences encoding proteins involved in the production of phytylpyrophosphate are known in the art, and include, but are not limited to geranylgeranylpyrophosphate synthase (GGPPS), geranylgeranylpyrophosphate reductase (GGH), 1-deoxyxylulose-5-phosphate synthase, 1-deoxy-D-xylolose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase, 4-diphosphocytidyl-2-C-methylerythritol synthase, isopentyl pyrophosphate isomerase.

The prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase sequences of the present invention find use in the preparation of transformation constructs having a second expression cassette for the expression of additional sequences involved in tocopherol biosynthesis. Additional tocopherol biosynthesis sequences of interest in the present invention include, but are not limited to gamma-tocpherol methyltransferase (Shintani, et al. (1998) Science 282(5396):2098-2100), tocopherol cyclase, and tocopherol methyltransferase.

A plant cell, tissue, organ, or plant into which the recombinant DNA constructs containing the expression constructs have been introduced is considered transformed, transfected, or transgenic. A transgenic or transformed cell or plant also includes progeny of the cell or plant and progeny produced from a breeding program employing such a transgenic plant as a parent in a cross and exhibiting an altered phenotype resulting from the presence of a prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase nucleic acid sequence.

Plant expression or transcription constructs having a prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase as the DNA sequence of interest for increased or decreased expression thereof may be employed with a wide variety of plant life, particularly, plant life involved in the production of vegetable oils for edible and industrial uses. Particularly preferred plants for use in the methods of the present invention include, but are not limited to: Acacia, alfalfa, aneth, apple, apricot, artichoke, arugula, asparagus, avocado, banana, barley, beans, beet, blackberry, blueberry, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, canola, cantaloupe, carrot, cassava, cauliflower, celery, cherry, chicory, cilantro, citrus, clementines, coffee, corn, cotton, cucumber, Douglas fir, eggplant, endive, escarole, eucalyptus, fennel, figs, garlic, gourd, grape, grapefruit, honey dew, jicama, kiwifruit, lettuce, leeks, lemon, lime, Loblolly pine, mango, melon, mushroom, nectarine, nut, oat, oil palm, oil seed rape, okra, onion, orange, an ornamental plant, papaya, parsley, pea, peach, peanut, pear, pepper, persimmon, pine, pineapple, plantain, plum, pomegranate, poplar, potato, pumpkin, quince, radiata pine, radicchio, radish, raspberry, rice, rye, sorghum, Southern pine, soybean, spinach, squash, strawberry, sugarbeet, sugarcane, sunflower, sweet potato, sweetgum, tangerine, tea, tobacco, tomato, triticale, turf, turnip, a vine, watermelon, wheat, yams, and zucchini.

Most especially preferred are temperate oilseed crops. Temperate oilseed crops of interest include, but are not limited to, rapeseed (Canola and High Erucic Acid varieties), sunflower, safflower, cotton, soybean, peanut, coconut and oil palms, and corn. Depending on the method for introducing the recombinant constructs into the host cell, other DNA sequences may be required. Importantly, this invention is applicable to dicotyledyons and monocotyledons species alike and will be readily applicable to new and/or improved transformation and regulation techniques.

Of particular interest, is the use of prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase constructs in plants to produce plants or plant parts, including, but not limited to leaves, stems, roots, reproductive, and seed, with a modified content of tocopherols in plant parts having transformed plant cells.

For immunological screening, antibodies to the protein can be prepared by injecting rabbits or mice with the purified protein or portion thereof, such methods of preparing antibodies being well known to those in the art. Either monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies can be produced, although typically polyclonal antibodies are more useful for gene isolation. Western analysis may be conducted to determine that a related protein is present in a crude extract of the desired plant species, as determined by cross-reaction with the antibodies to the encoded proteins. When cross-reactivity is observed, genes encoding the related proteins are isolated by screening expression libraries representing the desired plant species. Expression libraries can be constructed in a variety of commercially available vectors, including lambda gt11, as described in Sambrook, et al. (Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Second Edition (1989) Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.).

To confirm the activity and specificity of the proteins encoded by the identified nucleic acid sequences as prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase enzymes, in vitro assays are performed in insect cell cultures using baculovirus expression systems. Such baculovirus expression systems are known in the art and are described by Lee, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,886, the entirety of which is herein incorporated by reference.

In addition, other expression constructs may be prepared to assay for protein activity utilizing different expression systems. Such expression constructs are transformed into yeast or prokaryotic host and assayed for prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase activity. Such expression systems are known in the art and are readily available through commercial sources.

In addition to the sequences described in the present invention, DNA coding sequences useful in the present invention can be derived from algae, fungi, bacteria, mammalian sources, plants, etc. Homology searches in existing databases using signature sequences corresponding to conserved nucleotide and amino acid sequences of prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase can be employed to isolate equivalent, related genes from other sources such as plants and microorganisms. Searches in EST databases can also be employed. Furthermore, the use of DNA sequences encoding enzymes functionally enzymatically equivalent to those disclosed herein, wherein such DNA sequences are degenerate equivalents of the nucleic acid sequences disclosed herein in accordance with the degeneracy of the genetic code, is also encompassed by the present invention. Demonstration of the functionality of coding sequences identified by any of these methods can be carried out by complementation of mutants of appropriate organisms, such as Synechocystis, Shewanella, yeast, Pseudomonas, Rhodobacteria, etc., that lack specific biochemical reactions, or that have been mutated. The sequences of the DNA coding regions can be optimized by gene resynthesis, based on codon usage, for maximum expression in particular hosts.

For the alteration of tocopherol production in a host cell, a second expression construct can be used in accordance with the present invention. For example, the prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase expression construct can be introduced into a host cell in conjunction with a second expression construct having a nucleotide sequence for a protein involved in tocopherol biosynthesis.

The method of transformation in obtaining such transgenic plants is not critical to the instant invention, and various methods of plant transformation are currently available. Furthermore, as newer methods become available to transform crops, they may also be directly applied hereunder. For example, many plant species naturally susceptible to Agrobacterium infection may be successfully transformed via tripartite or binary vector methods of Agrobacterium mediated transformation. In many instances, it will be desirable to have the construct bordered on one or both sides by T-DNA, particularly having the left and right borders, more particularly the right border. This is particularly useful when the construct uses A. tumefaciens or A. rhizogenes as a mode for transformation, although the T-DNA borders may find use with other modes of transformation. In addition, techniques of microinjection, DNA particle bombardment, and electroporation have been developed which allow for the transformation of various monocot and dicot plant species.

Normally, included with the DNA construct will be a structural gene having the necessary regulatory regions for expression in a host and providing for selection of transformant cells. The gene may provide for resistance to a cytotoxic agent, e.g. antibiotic, heavy metal, toxin, etc., complementation providing prototrophy to an auxotrophic host, viral immunity or the like. Depending upon the number of different host species the expression construct or components thereof are introduced, one or more markers may be employed, where different conditions for selection are used for the different hosts.

Where Agrobacterium is used for plant cell transformation, a vector may be used which may be introduced into the Agrobacterium host for homologous recombination with T-DNA or the Ti- or Ri-plasmid present in the Agrobacterium host. The Ti- or Ri-plasmid containing the T-DNA for recombination may be armed (capable of causing gall formation) or disarmed (incapable of causing gall formation), the latter being permissible, so long as the vir genes are present in the transformed Agrobacterium host. The armed plasmid can give a mixture of normal plant cells and gall.

In some instances where Agrobacterium is used as the vehicle for transforming host plant cells, the expression or transcription construct bordered by the T-DNA border region(s) will be inserted into a broad host range vector capable of replication in E. coli and Agrobacterium, there being broad host range vectors described in the literature. Commonly used is pRK2 or derivatives thereof. See, for example, Ditta, et al., (Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., U.S.A. (1980) 77:7347-7351) and EPA 0 120 515, which are incorporated herein by reference. Alternatively, one may insert the sequences to be expressed in plant cells into a vector containing separate replication sequences, one of which stabilizes the vector in E. coli, and the other in Agrobacterium. See, for example, McBride, et al. (Plant Mol. Biol. (1 990) 14:269-276), wherein the pRiHRI (Jouanin, et al., Mol. Gen. Genet. (1985) 201:370-374) origin of replication is utilized and provides for added stability of the plant expression vectors in host Agrobacterium cells.

Included with the expression construct and the T-DNA will be one or more markers, which allow for selection of transformed Agrobacterium and transformed plant cells. A number of markers have been developed for use with plant cells, such as resistance to chloramphenicol, kanamycin, the aminoglycoside G418, hygromycin, or the like. The particular marker employed is not essential to this invention, one or another marker being preferred depending on the particular host and the manner of construction.

For transformation of plant cells using Agrobacterium, explants may be combined and incubated with the transformed Agrobacterium for sufficient time for transformation, the bacteria killed, and the plant cells cultured in an appropriate selective medium. Once callus forms, shoot formation can be encouraged by employing the appropriate plant hormones in accordance with known methods and the shoots transferred to rooting medium for regeneration of plants. The plants may then be grown to seed and the seed used to establish repetitive generations and for isolation of vegetable oils.

There are several possible ways to obtain the plant cells of this invention which contain multiple expression constructs. Any means for producing a plant comprising a construct having a DNA sequence encoding the expression construct of the present invention, and at least one other construct having another DNA sequence encoding an enzyme are encompassed by the present invention. For example, the expression construct can be used to transform a plant at the same time as the second construct either by inclusion of both expression constructs in a single transformation vector or by using separate vectors, each of which express desired genes. The second construct can be introduced into a plant which has already been transformed with the prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase expression construct, or alternatively, transformed plants, one expressing the prenyltransferase or tocopherol cyclase construct and one expressing the second construct, can be crossed to bring the constructs together in the same plant.

Transgenic plants of the present invention may be produced from tissue culture, and subsequent generations grown from seed. Alternatively, transgenic plants may be grown using apomixis. Apomixis is a genetically controlled method of reproduction in plants where the embryo is formed without union of an egg and a sperm. There are three basic types of apomictic reproduction: 1) apospory where the embryo develops from a chromosomally unreduced egg in an embryo sac derived from the nucleus, 2) diplospory where the embryo develops from an unreduced egg in an embryo sac derived from the megaspore mother cell, and 3) adventitious embryony where the embryo develops directly from a somatic cell. In most forms of apomixis, pseudogamy or fertilization of the polar nuclei to produce endosperm is necessary for seed viability. In apospory, a nurse cultivar can be used as a pollen source for endosperm formation in seeds. The nurse cultivar does not affect the genetics of the aposporous apomictic cultivar since the unreduced egg of the cultivar develops parthenogenetically, but makes possible endosperm production. Apomixis is economically important, especially in transgenic plants, because it causes any genotype, no matter how heterozygous, to breed true. Thus,with apomictic reproduction, heterozygous transgenic plants can maintain their genetic fidelity throughout repeated life cycles. Methods for the production of apomictic plants are known in the art. See, U.S. Pat. No.5,811,636, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

The nucleic acid sequences of the present invention can be used in constructs to provide for the expression of the sequence in a variety of host cells, both prokaryotic eukaryotic. Host cells of the present invention preferably include monocotyledenous and dicotyledenous plant cells.

In general, the skilled artisan is familiar with the standard resource materials which describe specific conditions and procedures for the construction, manipulation and isolation of macromolecules (e.g., DNA molecules, plasmids, etc.), generation of recombinant organisms and the screening and isolating of clones, (see for example, Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Press (1989); Maliga et al., Methods in Plant Molecular Biology, Cold Spring Harbor Press (1995), the entirety of which is herein incorporated by reference; Birren et al., Genome Analysis: Analyzing DNA, 1, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., the entirety of which is herein incorporated by reference).

Methods for the expression of sequences in insect host cells are known in the art. Baculovirus expression vectors are recombinant insect viruses in which the coding sequence for a chosen foreign gene has been inserted behind a baculovirus promoter in place of the viral gene, e.g., polyhedrin (Smith and Summers, U.S. Pat. No., 4,745,051, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference). Baculovirus expression vectors are known in the art, and are described for example in Doerfler, Curr. Top. Microbiol. Immunol. 131:51-68 (1968); Luckow and Summers, Bio/Technology 6:47-55 (1988a); Miller, Annual Review of Microbiol. 42:177-199 (1988); Summers, Curr. Comm. Molecular Biology, Cold Spring Harbor Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. (1988); Summers and Smith, A Manual of Methods for Baculovirus Vectors and Insect Cell Culture Procedures, Texas Ag. Exper. Station Bulletin No. 1555 (1988), the entireties of which is herein incorporated by reference)

Methods for the expression of a nucleic acid sequence of interest in a fungal host cell are known in the art. The fungal host cell may, for example, be a yeast cell or a filamentous fungal cell. Methods for the expression of DNA sequences of interest in yeast cells are generally described in “Guide to yeast genetics and molecular biology”, Guthrie and Fink, eds. Methods in enzymology, Academic Press, Inc. Vol 194 (1991) and Gene expression technology”, Goeddel ed, Methods in Enzymology, Academic Press, Inc., Vol 185 (1991).

Mammalian cell lines available as hosts for expression are known in the art and include many immortalized cell lines available from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC, Manassas, Va.), such as HeLa cells, Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells and a number of other cell lines. Suitable promoters for mammalian cells are also known in the art and include, but are not limited to, viral promoters such as that from Simian Virus 40 (SV40) (Fiers et al., Nature 273:113 (1978), the entirety of which is herein incorporated by reference), Rous sarcoma virus (RSV), adenovirus (ADV) and bovine papilloma virus (BPV). Mammalian cells may also require terminator sequences and poly-A addition sequences. Enhancer sequences which increase expression may also be included and sequences which promote amplification of the gene may also be desirable (for example methotrexate resistance genes).

Vectors suitable for replication in mammalian cells are well known in the art, and may include viral replicons, or sequences which insure integration of the appropriate sequences encoding epitopes into the host genome. Plasmid vectors that greatly facilitate the construction of recombinant viruses have been described (see, for example, Mackett et al, J Virol. 49:857 (1984); Chakrabarti et al, Mol. Cell. Biol. 5:3403 (1985); Moss, In: Gene Transfer Vectors For Mammalian Cells (Miller and Calos, eds., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, N.Y., p. 10, (1987); all of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety).

The invention also includes plants and plant parts, such as seed, oil and meal derived from seed, and feed and food products processed from plants, which are enriched in tocopherols. Of particular interest is seed oil obtained from transgenic plants where the tocopherol level has been increased as compared to seed oil of a non-transgenic plant.

The harvested plant material may be subjected to additional processing to further enrich the tocopherol content. The skilled artisan will recognize that there are many such processes or methods for refining, bleaching and degumming oil. U.S. Pat. No. 5,932,261, issued Aug. 3, 1999, discloses on such process, for the production of a natural carotene rich refined and deodorised oil by subjecting the oil to a pressure of less than 0.060 mbar and to a temperature of less than 200.degree. C. Oil distilled by this process has reduced free fatty acids, yielding a refined, deodorised oil where Vitamin E contained in the feed oil is substantially retained in the processed oil. The teachings of this patent are incorporated herein by reference.

The invention now being generally described, it will be more readily understood by reference to the following examples which are included for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the present invention.

EXAMPLES Example 1 Identification of Prenyltransferase or Tocopherol Cyclase Sequences

PSI-BLAST (Altschul, et al. (1997) Nuc Acid Res 25:3389-3402) profiles were generated for both the straight chain and aromatic classes of prenyltransferases. To generate the straight chain profile, a prenyl-transferase from Porphyra purpurea (Genbank accession 1709766) was used as a query against the NCBI non-redundant protein database. The E. coli enzyme involved in the formation of ubiquinone, ubiA (genbank accession 1790473) was used as a starting sequence to generate the aromatic prenyltransferase profile. These profiles were used to search public and proprietary DNA and protein data bases. In Arabidopsis six putative prenyltransferases of the straight-chain class were identified, ATPT1, (SEQ ID NO:9), ATPT7 (SEQ ID NO:10), ATPT8 (SEQ ID NO:11), ATPT9 (SEQ ID NO:13), ATPT10 (SEQ ID NO:14), and ATPT11 (SEQ ID NO:15), and six were identified of the aromatic class, ATPT2 (SEQ ID NO: 1), ATPT3 (SEQ ID NO:3), ATPT4 (SEQ ID NO:5), ATPT5 (SEQ ID NO:7), ATPT6 (SEQ ID NO:8), and ATPT12 (SEQ ID NO:16). Additional prenyltransferase sequences from other plants related to the aromatic class of prenyltransferases, such as soy (SEQ ID NOs: 19-23, the deduced amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:23 is provided in SEQ ID NO:24) and maize (SEQ ID NOs:25-29, and 31) are also identified. The deduced amino acid sequence of ZMPT5 (SEQ ID NO:29) is provided in SEQ ID NO:30.

Searches are performed on a Silicon Graphics Unix computer using additional Bioaccellerator hardware and GenWeb software supplied by Compugen Ltd. This software and hardware enables the use of the Smith-Waterman algorithm in searching DNA and protein databases using profiles as queries. The program used to query protein databases is profilesearch. This is a search where the query is not a single sequence but a profile based on a multiple alignment of amino acid or nucleic acid sequences. The profile is used to query a sequence data set, i.e., a sequence database. The profile contains all the pertinent information for scoring each position in a sequence, in effect replacing the “scoring matrix” used for the standard query searches. The program used to query nucleotide databases with a protein profile is tprofilesearch. Tprofilesearch searches nucleic acid databases using an amino acid profile query. As the search is running, sequences in the database are translated to amino acid sequences in six reading frames. The output file for tprofilesearch is identical to the output file for profilesearch except for an additional column that indicates the frame in which the best alignment occurred.

The Smith-Waterman algorithm, (Smith and Waterman (1981) supra), is used to search for similarities between one sequence from the query and a group of sequences contained in the database. E score values as well as other sequence information, such as conserved peptide sequences are used to identify related sequences.

To obtain the entire coding region corresponding to the Arabidopsis prenyltransferase sequences, synthetic oligo-nucleotide primers are designed to amplify the 5′ and 3′ ends of partial cDNA clones containing prenyltransferase sequences. Primers are designed according to the respective Arabidopsis prenyltransferase sequences and used in Rapid Amplification of cDNA Ends (RACE) reactions (Frohman et al. (1988) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85:8998-9002) using the Marathon cDNA amplification kit (Clontech Laboratories Inc, Palo Alto, Calif.).

Amino acid sequence alignments between ATPT2 (SEQ ID NO:2), ATPT3 (SEQ ID NO:4), ATPT4 (SEQ ID NO:6), ATPT8 (SEQ ID NO:12), and ATPT12 (SEQ ID NO:17) are performed using ClustalW (FIG. 1), and the percent identity and similarities are provided in Table 1 below.

TABLE 1 ATP2 ATPT3 ATPT4 ATPT5 ATPT12 ATPT2 % Identity 12 13 11 15 % similar 25 25 22 32 % Gap 17 20 20 9 ATPT3 % Identity 12 6 22 % similar 29 16 38 % Gap 20 24 14 ATPT4 % Identity 9 14 % similar 18 29 % Gap 26 19 ATPT8 % Identity 7 % similar 19 % Gap 20 ATPT12 % Identity % similar % Gap

Example 2 Preparation of Prenyl Transferase Expression Constructs

A plasmid containing the napin cassette derived from pCGN3223 (described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,790, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference) was modified to make it more useful for cloning large DNA fragments containing multiple restriction sites, and to allow the cloning of multiple napin fusion genes into plant binary transformation vectors. An adapter comprised of the self annealed oligonucleotide of sequence CGCGATTTAAATGGCGCGCCCTGCAGGCGGCCGCCTGCAGGGCGCGCCATTTAAAT (SEQ ID NO:40) was ligated into the cloning vector pBC SK+ (Stratagene) after digestion with the restriction endonuclease BssHII to construct vector pCGN7765. Plamids pCGN3223 and pCGN7765 were digested with Not! and ligated together. The resultant vector, pCGN7770, contains the pCGN7765 backbone with the napin seed specific expression cassette from pCGN3223.

The cloning cassette, pCGN7787, essentially the same regulatory elements as pCGN7770, with the exception of the napin regulatory regions of pCGN7770 have been replaced with the double CAMV 35S promoter and the tml polyadenylation and transcriptional termination region.

A binary vector for plant transformation, pCGN5139, was constructed from pCGN1558 (McBride and Summerfelt, (1990) Plant Molecular Biology, 14:269-276). The polylinker of pCGN1558 was replaced as a HindIII/Asp718 fragment with a polylinker containing unique restriction endonuclease sites, AscI, PacI, XbaI, SwaI, BamHI, and NotI. The Asp718 and HindIII restriction endonuclease sites are retained in pCGN5139.

A series of turbo binary vectors are constructed to allow for the rapid cloning of DNA sequences into binary vectors containing transcriptional initiation regions (promoters) and transcriptional termination regions.

The plasmid pCGN8618 was constructed by ligating oligonucleotides 5′-TCGAGGATCCGCGGCCGCAAGCTTCCTGCAGG-3′ (SEQ ID NO:41) and 5′-TCGACCTGCAGGAAGCTTGCGGCCGCGGATCC-3′ (SEQ ID NO:42) into SalI/XhoI-digested pCGN7770. A fragment containing the napin promoter, polylinker and napin 3′ region was excised from pCGN8618 by digestion with Asp718I; the fragment was blunt-ended by filling in the 5′ overhangs with Klenow fragment then ligated into pCGN5139 that had been digested with Asp718I and HindIII and blunt-ended by filling in the 5′ overhangs with Klenow fragment. A plasmid containing the insert oriented so that the napin promoter was closest to the blunted Asp718I site of pCGN5139 and the napin 3′ was closest to the blunted HindIII site was subjected to sequence analysis to confirm both the insert orientation and the integrity of cloning junctions. The resulting plasmid was designated pCGN8622.

The plasmid pCGN8619 was constructed by ligating oligonucleotides 5′-TCGACCTGCAGGAAGCTTGCGGCCGCGGATCC-3′ (SEQ ID NO:43) and 5′-TCGAGGATCCGCGGCCGCAAGCTTCCTGCAGG-3′ (SEQ ID NO:44) into SalI/XhoI-digested pCGN7770. A fragment containing the napin promoter, polylinker and napin 3′ region was removed from pCGN8619 by digestion with Asp718I; the fragment was blunt-ended by filling in the 5′ overhangs with Klenow fragment then ligated into pCGN5139 that had been digested with Asp718I and HindIII and blunt-ended by filling in the 5′ overhangs with Klenow a fragment. A plasmid containing the insert oriented so that the napin promoter was closest to the blunted Asp718I site of pCGN5139 and the napin 3′ was closest to the blunted HindIII site was subjected to sequence analysis to confirm both the insert orientation and the integrity of cloning junctions. The resulting plasmid was designated pCGN8623.

The plasmid pCGN8620 was constructed by ligating oligonucleotides 5′-TCGAGGATCCGCGGCCGCAAGCTTCCTGCAGGAGCT-3′ (SEQ ID NO:45) and 5′-CCTGCAGGAAGCTTGCGGCCGCGGATCC-3′ (SEQ ID NO:46) into SalI/SacI-digested pCGN7787. A fragment containing the d35S promoter, polylinker and tml 3′ region was removed from pCGN8620 by complete digestion with Asp718I and partial digestion with NotI. The fragment was blunt-ended by filling in the 5′ overhangs with Kienow fragment then ligated into pCGN5139 that had been digested with Asp718I and HindIII and blunt-ended by filling in the 5′ overhangs with Kienow fragment. A plasmid containing the insert oriented so that the d35S promoter was closest to the blunted Asp718I site of pCGN5139 and the tml 3′ was closest to the blunted HindIII site was subjected to sequence analysis to confirm both the insert orientation and the integrity of cloning junctions. The resulting plasmid was designated pCGN8624.

The plasmid pCGN8621 was constructed by ligating oligonucleotides 5′-TCGACCTGCAGGAAGCTTGCGGCCGCGGATCCAGCT-3′ (SEQ ID NO:47) and 5′-GGATCCGCGGCCGCAAGCTTCCTGCAGG-3′ (SEQ ID NO:48) into SalI/SacI-digested pCGN7787. A fragment containing the d35S promoter, polylinker and tml 3′ region was removed from pCGN862 I by complete digestion with Asp718I and partial digestion with NotI. The fragment was blunt-ended by filling in the 5′ overhangs with Kienow fragment then ligated into pCGN5139 that had been digested with Asp718I and HindIII and blunt-ended by filling in the 5′ overhangs with Kienow fragment. A plasmid containing the insert oriented so that the d35S promoter was closest to the blunted Asp718I site of pCGN5139 and the tml 3′ was closest to the blunted HindIII site was subjected to sequence analysis to confirm both the insert orientation and the integrity of cloning junctions. The resulting plasmid was designated pCGN8625.

The plasmid construct pCGN8640 is a modification of pCGN8624 described above. A 938 bp PstI fragment isolated from transposon Tn7 which encodes bacterial spectinomycin and streptomycin resistance (Fling et al. (1985), Nucleic Acids Research 13(19):7095-7106), a determinant for E. coli and Agrobacterium selection, was blunt ended with Pfu polymerase. The blunt ended fragment was ligated into pCGN8624 that had been digested with SpeI and blunt ended with Pfu polymerase. The region containing the PstI fragment was sequenced to confirm both the insert orientation and the integrity of cloning junctions.

The spectinomycin resistance marker was introduced into pCGN8622 and pCGN8623 as follows. A 7.7 Kbp AvrII-SnaBI fragment from pCGN8640 was ligated to a 10.9 Kbp AvrlI-SnaBI fragment from pCGN8623 or pCGN8622, described above. The resulting plasmids were pCGN8641 and pCGN8643, respectively.

The plasmid pCGN8644 was constructed by ligating oligonucleotides 5′-GATCACCTGCAGGAAGCTTGCGGCCGCGGATCCAATGCA-3′ (SEQ ID NO:49) and 5′-TTGGATCCGCGGCCGCAAGCTTCCTGCAGGT-3′ (SEQ ID NO:50) into BamHI-PstI digested pCGN8640.

Synthetic oligonulceotides were designed for use in Polymerase Chain Reactions (PCR) to amplify the coding sequences of ATPT2, ATPT3, ATPT4, ATPT8, and ATPT12 for the preparation of expression constructs and are provided in Table 2 below.

TABLE 2 Restriction SEQ ID Name Site Sequence NO: ATPT2 5′ NotI GGATCCGCGGCCGCACAATGGAGTC 51 TCTGCTCTCTAGTTCT ATPT2 3′ SseI GGATCCTGCAGGTCACTTCAAAAAA 52 GGTAACAGCAAGT ATPT3 5′ NotI GGATCCGCGGCCGCACAATGGCGTT 53 TTTTGGGCTCTCCCGTGTTT ATPT3 3′ SseI GGATCCTGCAGGTTATTGAAAACTT 54 CTTCCAAGTACAACT ATPT4 5′ NotI GGATCCGCGGCCGCACAATGTGGCG 55 AAGATCTGTTGTT ATPT4 3′ SseI GGATCCTGCAGGTCATGGAGAGTAG 56 AAGGAAGGAGCT ATPT8 5′ NotI GGATCCGCGGCCGCACAATGGTACT 57 TGCCGAGGTTCCAAAGCTTGCCTCT ATPT8 3′ SseI GGATCCTGCAGGTCACTTGTTTCTG 58 GTGATGACTCTAT ATPT12 5′ NotI GGATCCGCGGCCGCACAATGACTTC 59 GATTCTCAACACT ATPT12 3′ SseI GGATCCTGCAGGTCAGTGTTGCGAT 60 GCTAATGCCGT

The coding sequences of ATPT2, ATPT3, ATPT4, ATPT8, and ATPT12 were all amplified using the respective PCR primers shown in Table 2 above and cloned into the TopoTA vector (Invitrogen). Constructs containing the respective prenyltransferase sequences were digested with NotI and Sse83871 and cloned into the turbobinary vectors described above.

The sequence encoding ATPT2 prenyltransferase (SEQ ID NO: 1) was cloned in the sense orientation into pCGN8640 to produce the plant transformation construct pCGN10800 (FIG. 2). The ATPT2 sequence is under control of the 35S promoter.

The ATPT2 sequence (SEQ ID NO: 1) was also cloned in the antisense orientation into the construct pCGN8641 to create pCGN10801 (FIG. 3). This construct provides for the antisense expression of the ATPT2 sequence from the napin promoter.

The ATPT2 coding sequence (SEQ ID NO: 1) was also cloned in the sense orientation into the vector pCGN9643 to create the plant transformation construct pCGN10822.

The ATPT2 coding sequence (SEQ ID NO: 1) was also cloned in the antisense orientation into the vector pCGN8644 to create the plant transformation construct pCGN10803 (FIG. 4).

The ATPT4 coding sequence (SEQ ID NO: 5) was cloned into the vector pCGN864 to create the plant transformation construct pCGN10806 (FIG. 5). The ATPT2 coding sequence (SEQ ID NO: 1) was cloned into the vector TopoTA™ vector from Invitrogen, to create the plant transformation construct pCGN10807 (FIG. 6). The ATPT3 (SEQ ID NO: 3) coding sequence was cloned into the TopoTA vector to create the plant transformation construct pCGN10808 (FIG. 7). The ATPT3 (SEQ ID NO: 3) coding sequence was cloned in the sense orientation into the vector pCGN8640 to create the plant transformation construct pCGN10809 (FIG. 8). The ATPT3 (SEQ ID NO: 3) coding sequence was cloned in the antisense orientation into the vector pCGN8641 to create the plant transformation construct pCGN10810 (FIG. 9). The ATPT3 (SEQ ID NO: 3) coding sequence was cloned into the vector pCGN8643 to create the plant transformation construct pCGN10811 (FIG. 10). The ATPT3 (SEQ ID NO: 3) coding sequence was cloned into the vector pCGN8644 to create the plant transformation construct pCGN10812 (FIG. 11). The ATPT4 (SEQ ID NO: 5) coding sequence was cloned into the vector pCGN8640 to create the plant transformation construct pCGN10813 (FIG. 12). The ATPT4 (SEQ ID NO: 5) coding sequence was cloned into the vector pCGN8641 to create the plant transformation construct pCGN10814 (FIG. 13). The ATPT4 (SEQ ID NO: 5) coding sequence was cloned into the vector pCGN8643 to create the plant transformation construct pCGN10815 (FIG. 14). The ATPT4 (SEQ ID NO: 5) coding sequence was cloned in the antisense orientation into the vector pCGN8644 to create the plant transformation construct pCGN10816 (FIG. 15). The ATPT8 (SEQ ID NO: 11) coding sequence was cloned in the sense orientation into the vector pCGN8643 to create the plant transformation construct pCGN10819 (FIG. 17). The ATPT12 (SEQ ID NO: 16) coding sequence was cloned into the vector pCGN8640 to create the plant transformation construct pCGN10824 (FIG. 18). The ATPT12 (SEQ D NO: 16) coding sequence was cloned into the vector pCGN8643 to create the plant transformation construct pCGN10825 (FIG. 19). The ATPT8 (SEQ ED NO: 11) coding sequence was cloned into the vector pCGN8640 to create the plant transformation construct pCGN10826 (FIG. 20).

Example 3 Plant Transformation with Prenyl Transferase Constructs

Transgenic Brassica plants are obtained by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation as described by Radke et al. (Theor. Appl. Genet. (1988) 75:685-694; Plant Cell Reports (1992) 11:499-505). Transgenic Arabidopsis thaliano plants may be obtained by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation as described by Valverkens et al., (Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. (1988) 85:5536-5540), or as described by Bent et al. ((1994), Science 265:1856-1860), or Bechtold et al. ((1993), C.R.Acad.Sci, Life Sciences 316:1194-1199). Other plant species may be similarly transformed using related techniques.

Alternatively, microprojectile bombardment methods, such as described by Klein et al. (Bio/Technology 10:286-291) may also be used to obtain nuclear transformed plants.

Example 4 Identification of Additional Prenyltransferases

Additional BLAST searches were performed using the ATPT2 sequence (SEQ ID NO: 1), a sequence in the class of aromatic prenyltransferases. ESTs, and in some cases, full-length coding regions, were identified in proprietary DNA libraries.

Soy full-length homologs to ATPT2 were identified by a combination of BLAST (using ATPT2 protein sequence) and 5′ RACE. Two homologs resulted (SEQ ID NO:95 and SEQ ID NO:96). Translated amino acid sequences are provided by SEQ ID NO:97 and SEQ ID NO:98.

A rice est ATPT2 homolog is shown in SEQ ID NO:99 (obtained from BLAST using the wheat ATPT2 homolog).

Other homolog sequences were obtained using ATPT2 and PSI-BLAST, including est sequences from wheat (SEQ ID NO:100), leek (SEQ ID NOs:101 and 102), canola (SEQ ID NO:103), corn (SEQ ID NOs:104, 105 and 106), cotton (SEQ ID NO:107) and tomato (SEQ ID NO: 108).

A PSI-Blast profile generated using the E. coli ubiA (genbank accession 1790473) sequence was used to analyze the Synechocystis genome. This analysis identified 5 open reading frames (ORFs) in the Synechocystis genome that were potentially prenyltransferases; slr0926 (annotated as ubiA (4-hydroxybenzoate-octaprenyltransferase, SEQ ID NO:32)), sll1899 (annotated as ctaB (cytocrome c oxidase folding protein, SEQ ID NO:33)), slr0056 (annotated as g4 (chlorophyll synthase 33 kd subunit, SEQ ID NO:34)), slr1518 (annotated as menA (menaquinone biosynthesis protein, SEQ ID NO:35)), and slr1736 (annotated as a hypothetical protein of unknown function (SEQ ID NO: 37)).

4A. Synechocystis Knock-outs

To determine the functionality of these ORFs and their involvement, if any, in the biosynthesis of tocopherols, knockouts constructs were made to disrupt the ORF identified in Synechocystis.

Synthetic oligos were designed to amplify regions from the 5′ (5′-TAATGTGTACATTGTCGGCCTC (1 7365′) (SEQ ID NO:61) and 5′-GCAATGTAACATCAGAGATTTTGAGACACAACGTGGCTTTCCACAATTCCCCGCACC

GTC (1736kanpr1)) (SEQ ID NO:62) and 3′(5′-AGGCTAATAAGCACAAATGGGA (17363′) (SEQ ID NO:63) and 5′-GGTATGAGTCAGCAACACCTTCTTCACGAGGCAGACCTCAGC GGAATTGGTTTAGGTTATCCC (1736kanpr2)) (SEQ ID NO:64) ends of the sir 736 ORF. The 1736kanpr1 and 1736kanpr2 oligos contained 20 bp of homology to the slr1736 ORF with an additional 40 bp of sequence homology to the ends of the kanamycin resistance cassette. Separate PCR steps were completed with these oligos and the products were gel purified and combined with the kanamycin resistance gene from puc4K (Pharmacia) that had been digested with HincII and gel purified away from the vector backbone. The combined fragments were allowed to assemble without oligos under the following conditions: 94° C. for 1 min, 55° C. for 1 min, 72° C. for 1 min plus 5 seconds per cycle for 40 cycles using pfu polymerase in 100 ul reaction volume (Zhao, H and Arnold (1997) Nucleic Acids Res. 25(6):1307-1308). One microliter or five microliters of this assembly reaction was then amplified using 5′ and 3′ oligos nested within the ends of the ORF fragment, so that the resulting product contained 100-200 bp of the 5′ end of the Synechocystis gene to be knocked out, the kanamycin resistance cassette, and 100-200 bp of the 3′ end of the gene to be knocked out. This PCR product was then cloned into the vector pGemT easy (Promega) to create the construct pMON21681 and used for Synechocystis transformation.

Primers were also synthesized for the preparation of Synechocystis knockout constructs for the other sequences using the same method as described above, with the following primers. The ubiA 5′ sequence was amplified using the primers 5′-GGATCCATGGTTGCCCAAACCCCATC (SEQ ID NO:65) and 5′-GCAATGTAACATCAGAGATTTTGAGACACAACGTGGCTTTGGGTAAGCAACAATGACCGGC (SEQ ID NO:66). The 3′ region was amplified using the synthetic oligonucleotide primers 5′-GAATTCTCAAAGCCAGCCCAGTAAC (SEQ ID NO:67) and 5′-GGTATGAGTCAGCAACACCTTCTTCACGAGGCAGACCTCAGCGGGTGCGAAAAGGGTTTTCCC (SEQ ID NO:68). The amplification products were combined with the kanamycin resistance gene from puc4K (Pharmacia) that had been digested with HincII and gel purified away from the vector backbone. The annealed fragment was amplified using 5′ and 3′ oligos nested within the ends of the OPF fragment (5′-CCAGTGGTTfAGGCTGTGTGGTC (SEQ ID NO:69) and 5′-CTGAGTTGGATGTATTGGATC (SEQ ID NO:70)), so that the resulting product contained 100-200 bp of the 5′ end of the Synechocystis gene to be knocked out, the kanamycin resistance cassette, and 100-200 bp of the 3′ end of the gene to be knocked out. This PCR product was then cloned into the vector pGemT easy (Promega) to create the construct pMON21682 and used for Synechocystis transformation.

Primers were also synthesized for the preparation of Synechocystis knockout constructs for the other sequences using the same method as described above, with the following primers. The sl11899 5′ sequence was amplified using the primers 5′-GGATCCATGGTTACTTCGACAAAAATCC (SEQ ID NO:71) and 5′-GCAATGTAACATCAGAGATTTTGAGACACAACGTGGCTTTGCTAGGCAACCGCTTAGTAC (SEQ ID NO:72). The 3′ region was amplified using the synthetic oligonucleotide primers 5′-GAATTCTTAACCCAACAGTAAAGTTCCC (SEQ ID NO:73) and 5′-GGTATGAGTCAGCAACACCTTCTTCACGAGGCAGACCTCAGCGCCGGCATTGTCTTTTACATG (SEQ ID NO:74). The amplification products were combined with the kanamycin resistance gene from puc4K (Pharmacia) that had been digested with HincII and gel purified away from the vector backbone. The annealed fragment was amplified using 5′ and 3′ oligos nested within the ends of the ORF fragment (5′-GGAACCCTTGCAGCCGCTTC (SEQ ID NO:75) and 5′-GTATGCCCAACTGGTGCAGAGG (SEQ ID NO:76)), so that the resulting product contained 100-200 bp of the 5′ end of the Synechocystis gene to be knocked out, the kanamycin resistance cassette, and 100-200 bp of the 3′ end of the gene to be knocked out. This PCR product was then cloned into the vector pGemT easy (Promega) to create the construct pMON21679 and used for Synechocystis transformation.

Primers were also synthesized for the preparation of Synechocystis knockout constructs for the other sequences using the same method as described above, with the following primers. The slr0056 5′ sequence was amplified using the primers 5′-GGATCCATGTCTGACACACAAAATACCG (SEQ ID NO:77) and 5′-GCAATGTAACATCAGAGATTTTGAGACACAACGTGGCTTTCGCCAATACCAGCCACCAACAG (SEQ ID NO:78). The 3′ region was amplified using the synthetic oligonucleotide primers 5′-GAATTCTCAAATCCCCGCATGGCCTAG (SEQ ID NO:79) and 5′-GGTATGAGTCAGCAACACCTTCTTCACGAGGCAGACCTCAGCGGCCTACGGCTTGGACGTGTGGG (SEQ ID NO:80). The amplification products were combined with the kanamycin resistance gene from puc4K (Pharmacia) that had been digested with HincII and gel purified away from the vector backbone. The annealed fragment was amplified using 5′ and 3′ oligos nested within the ends of the ORF fragment (5′-CACTTGGATTCCCCTGATCTG (SEQ ID NO:81) and 5′-GCAATACCCGCTTGGAAAACG (SEQ ID NO:82)), so that the resulting product contained 100-200 bp of the 5′ end of the Synechocystis gene to be knocked out, the kanamycin resistance cassette, and 100-200 bp of the 3′ end of the gene to be knocked out. This PCR product was then cloned into the vector pGemT easy (Promega) to create the construct pMON21677 and used for Synechocystis transformation.

Primers were also synthesized for the preparation of Synechocystis knockout constructs for the other sequences using the same method as described above, with the following primers. The slr1518 5′ sequence was amplified using the primers 5′-GGATCCATGACCGAATCTTCGCCCCTAGC (SEQ ID NO:83) and 5′-GCAATGTAACATCAGAGATTGAGACACAACGTGGCTTTCAATCCTAGGTAGCCGAGGCG (SEQ ID NO:84). The 3′ region was amplified using the synthetic oligonucleotide primers 5′-GAATTCTTAGCCCAGGCCAGCCCAGCC (SEQ ID NO:85)and 5′-GGTATGAGTCAGCAACACCTTCTTCACGAGGCAGACCTCAGCGGGGAATTGATTTGTTTAATTACC (SEQ ID NO:86). The amplification products were combined with the kanamycin resistance gene from puc4K (Pharmacia) that had been digested with HincII and gel purified away from the vector backbone. The annealed fragment was amplified using 5′ and 3′ oligos nested within the ends of the ORF fragment (5′-GCGATCGCCATTATCGCTTGG (SEQ ID NO:87) and 5′-GCAGACTGGCAATTATCAGTAACG (SEQ ID NO:88)), so that the resulting product contained 100-200 bp of the 5′ end of the Synechocystis gene to be knocked out, the kanamycin resistance cassette, and 100-200 bp of the 3′ end of the gene to be knocked out. This PCR product was then cloned into the vector pGemT easy (Promega) to create the construct pMON2 1680 and used for Synechocystis transformation.

4B. Transformation of Synechocystis

Cells of Synechocystis 6803 were grown to a density of approximately 2×10⁸ cells per ml and harvested by centrifugation. The cell pellet was re-suspended in fresh BG-11 medium (ATCC Medium 616) at a density of 1×10⁹ cells per ml and used immediately for transformation. One-hundred microliters of these cells were mixed with 5 ul of mini prep DNA and incubated with light at 30 C for 4 hours. This mixture was then plated onto nylon filters resting on BG-11 agar supplemented with TES pH8 and allowed to grow for 12-18 hours. The filters were then transferred to BG-11 agar+TES+5 ug/ml kanamycin and allowed to grow until colonies appeared within 7-10 days (Packer and Glazer, 1988). Colonies were then picked into BG-11 liquid media containing 5 ug/ml kanamycin and allowed to grow for 5 days. These cells were then transferred to Bg-11 media containing 10 ug/ml kanamycin and allowed to grow for 5 days and then transferred to Bg-11+kanamycin at 25 ug/ml and allowed to grow for 5 days. Cells were then harvested for PCR analysis to determine the presence of a disrupted ORF and also for HPLC analysis to determine if the disruption had any effect on tocopherol levels.

PCR analysis of the Synechocystis isolates for slr1736 and sll1899 showed complete segregation of the mutant genome, meaning no copies of the wild type genome could be detected in these strains. This suggests that function of the native gene is not essential for cell function. HPLC analysis of these same isolates showed that the sll1899 strain had no detectable reduction in tocopherol levels. However, the strain carrying the knockout for slr1736 produced no detectable levels of tocopherol.

The amino acid sequences for the Synechocystis knockouts, slr1736 (SEQ ID NO: 37), slr0926 (SEQ ID NO: 32), sll1899 (SEQ ID NO: 33), s0056 (SEQ ID NO: 34), and slr1518 (SEQ ID NO: 35), are compared using ClustalW, and are provided in Table 3 below. Provided are the percent identities, percent similarity, and the percent gap. The alignment of the sequences is provided in FIG. 21.

TABLE 3 Slr1736 slr0926 sll1899 slr0056 slr1518 slr1736 % identity 14 12 18 11 % similar 29 30 34 26 % gap 8 7 10 5 slr0926 % identity 20 19 14 % similar 39 32 28 % gap 7 9 4 sll1899 % identity 17 13 % similar 29 29 % gap 12 9 slr0056 % identity 15 % similar 31 % gap 8 slr1518 % identity % similar % gap

Amino acid sequence comparisons are performed using various Arabidopsis prenyltransferase sequences, ATPT2 (SEQ ID NO: 2), ATPT3 (SEQ ID NO: 4), ATPT4 (SEQ ID NO: 6), ATPT8 (SEQ ID NO: 12), and ATPT12 (SEQ ID NO: 17), and the Synechocystis sequences, slr1736 (SEQ ID NO: 37), slr0926 (SEQ ID NO: 32), sll1899 (SEQ ID NO: 33), slr0056 (SEQ ID NO: 34), and slr1518 (SEQ ID NO: 35). The comparisons are presented in Table 4 below. Provided are the percent identities, percent similarity, and the percent gap. The alignment of the sequences is provided in FIG. 22.

TABLE 4 ATPT2 slr1736 ATPT3 slr0926 ATPT4 sil1899 ATPT12 slr0056 ATPT8 slr1518 ATPT2 29 9 9 8 8 12 9 7 9 46 23 21 20 20 28 23 21 20 27 13 28 23 29 11 24 25 24 slr1736 9 13 8 12 13 15 8 10 19 28 19 28 26 33 21 26 34 12 34 15 26 10 12 10 ATPT3 23 11 14 13 10 5 11 36 26 26 26 21 14 22 29 21 31 16 30 30 30 12 20 17 20 11 14 slr0926 24 37 28 33 24 29 33 12 25 10 11 9 18 11 8 6 7 ATPT4 33 23 18 16 19 28 19 32 32 33 13 17 10 12 sil1899 24 30 23 26 27 13 10 11 52 8 11 ATPT12 66 19 26 18 25 23 9 13 slr0056 23 32 10 8 7 ATPT8 23 7 slr1518 4C. Phytyl Prenyltransferase Enzyme Assays

[³H] Homogentisic acid in 0.1% H₃PO₄ (specific radioactivity 40 Ci/mmol). Phytyl pyrophosphate was synthesized as described by Joo, et al. (1973) Can J. Biochem. 51:1527. 2-methyl-6-phytylquinol and 2,3-dimethyl-5-phytylquinol were synthesized as described by Soll, et al. (1980) Phytochemistry 19:215. Homogentisic acid, α, β, δ, and γ-tocopherol, and tocol, were purchased commercially.

The wild-type strain of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 was grown in BG11 medium with bubbling air at 30° C. under 50 μE.m⁻².s⁻¹ fluorescent light, and 70% relative humidity. The growth medium of slr736 knock-out (potential PPT) strain of this organism was supplemented with 25 μg mL⁻¹ kanamycin. Cells were collected from 0.25 to 1 liter culture by centrifugation at 5000 g for 10 min and stored at −80° C.

Total membranes were isolated according to Zak's procedures with some modifications (Zak, et al. (1999) Eur J. Biochem 261:31 1). Cells were broken on a French press. Before the French press treatment, the cells were incubated for 1 hour with lysozyme (0.5%, w/v) at 30° C. in a medium containing 7 mM EDTA, 5 mM NaCl and 10 mM Hepes-NaOH, pH 7.4. The spheroplasts were collected by centrifugation at 5000 g for 10 min and resuspended at 0.1-0.5 mg chlorophyll mL⁻¹ in 20 mM potassium phosphate buffer, pH 7.8. Proper amount of protease inhibitor cocktail and DNAase I from Boehringer Mannheim were added to the solution. French press treatments were performed two to three times at 100 MPa. After breakage, the cell suspension was centrifuged for 10 min at 5000 g to pellet unbroken cells, and this was followed by centrifugation at 100 000 g for 1 hour to collect total membranes. The final pellet was resuspended in a buffer containing 50 mM Tris-HCL and 4 mM MgCl₂.

Chloroplast pellets were isolated from 250 g of spinach leaves obtained from local markets. Devined leaf sections were cut into grinding buffer (2 l/250 g leaves) containing 2 mM EDTA, 1 mM MgCl₂, 1 mM MnCl₂, 0.33 M sorbitol, 0.1% ascorbic acid, and 50 mM Hepes at pH 7.5. The leaves were homogenized for 3 sec three times in a 1-L blendor, and filtered through 4 layers of mirocloth. The supernatant was then centrifuged at 5000 g for 6 min. The chloroplast pellets were resuspended in small amount of grinding buffer (Douce, et al Methods in Chloroplast Molecular Biology, 239 (1982)

Chloroplasts in pellets can be broken in three ways. Chloroplast pellets were first aliquoted in 1 mg of chlorophyll per tube, centrifuged at 6000 rpm for 2 min in microcentrifuge, and grinding buffer was removed. Two hundred microliters of Triton X-100 buffer (0.1% Triton X-100, 50 mM Tris-HCl pH 7.6 and 4 mM MgCl₂) or swelling buffer (10 mM Tris pH 7.6 and 4 mM MgCl₂) was added to each tube and incubated for ½ hour at 4° C. Then the broken chloroplast pellets were used for the assay immediately. In addition, broken chloroplasts can also be obtained by freezing in liquid nitrogen and stored at −80° C. for ½ hour, then used for the assay.

In some cases chloroplast pellets were further purified with 400%/80% percoll gradient to obtain intact chloroplasts. The intact chloroplasts were broken with swelling buffer, then either used for assay or further purified for envelope membranes with 20.5%/31.8% sucrose density gradient (Sol, et al (1980) supra). The membrane fractions were centrifuged at 100 000 g for 40 min and resuspended in 50 mM Tris-HCl pH 7.6, 4 MM MgCl₂.

Various amounts of [³H]HGA, 40 to 60 μM unlabelled HGA with specific activity in the range of 0.16 to 4 Ci/mmole were mixed with a proper amount of 1 M Tris-NaOH pH 10 to adjust pH to 7.6. HGA was reduced for 4 min with a trace amount of solid NaBH₄. In addition to HGA, standard incubation mixture (final vol 1 mL) contained 50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.6, 3-5 mM MgCl₂, and 100 μM phytyl pyrophosphate. The reaction was initiated by addition of Synechocystis total membranes, spinach chloroplast pellets, spinach broken chloroplasts, or spinach envelope membranes. The enzyme reaction was carried out for 2 hour at 23° C. or 30° C. in the dark or light. The reaction is stopped by freezing with liquid nitrogen, and stored at −80° C. or directly by extraction.

A constant amount of tocol was added to each assay mixture and reaction products were extracted with a 2 mL mixture of chloroform/methanol (1:2, v/v) to give a monophasic solution. NaCl solution (2 mL; 0.9%) was added with vigorous shaking. This extraction procedure was repeated three times. The organic layer containing the prenylquinones was filtered through a 20 mμ filter, evaporated under N₂, and then resuspended in 100 μL of ethanol.

The samples were mainly analyzed by Normal-Phase HPLC method (Isocratic 90% Hexane and 10% Methyl-t-butyl ether), and use a Zorbax silica column, 4.6×250 mm. The samples were also analyzed by Reversed-Phase HPLC method (Isocratic 0.1% H₃PO₄ in MeOH), and use a Vydac 201HS54 C18 column; 4.6×250 mm coupled with an All-tech C18 guard column. The amount of products were calculated based on the substrate specific radioactivity, and adjusted according to the % recovery based on the amount of internal standard.

The amount of chlorophyll was determined as described in Amon (1949) Plant Physiol. 24:1. Amount of protein was determined by the Bradford method using gamma globulin as a standard (Bradford, (1976) Anal. Biochem. 72:248)

Results of the assay demonstrate that 2-Methyl-6-Phytylplastoquinone is not produced in the Synechocystis slr1736 knockout preparations. The results of the phytyl prenyltransferase enzyme activity assay for the slr1736 knock out are presented in FIG. 23.

4D. Complementation of the slr1736 Knockout with ATPT2

In order to determine whether ATPT2 could complement the knockout of slr1736 in Synechocystis 6803, a plasmid was constructed to express the ATPT2 sequence from the TAC promoter. A vector, plasmid psl1211, was obtained from the lab of Dr. Himadri Pakrasi of Washington University, and is based on the plasmid RSF1010 which is a broad host range plasmid (Ng W.-O., Zentella R., Wang, Y., Taylor J-S. A., Pakrasi, H. B. 2000. phrA, the major photoreactivating factor in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803 codes for a cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer specific DNA photolyase. Arch. Microbiol. (in press)). The ATPT2 gene was isolated from the vector pCGN10817 by PCR using the following primers. ATPT2nco.pr 5′-CCATGGATTCGAGTAAAGTTGTCGC (SEQ ID NO:89); ATPT2ri.pr-5′-GAATTCACTTCAAAAAAGGTAACAG (SEQ ID NO:90). These primers will remove approximately 112 BP from the 5′ end of the ATPT2 sequence, which is thought to be the chloroplast transit peptide. These primers will also add an NcoI site at the 5′ end and an EcoRI site at the 3′ end which can be used for sub-cloning into subsequent vectors. The PCR product from using these primers and pCGN10817 was ligated into pGEM T easy and the resulting vector pMON21689 was confirmed by sequencing using the m13forward and ml3reverse primers. The NcoI/EcoRI fragment from pMON21689 was then ligated with the EagI/EcoRI and EagI/NcoI fragments from psl1211 resulting in pMON21690. The plasmid pMON21690 was introduced into the slr1736 Synechocystis 6803 KO strain via conjugation. Cells of sl906 (a helper strain) and DH10B cells containing pMON21690 were grown to log phase (O.D. 600=0.4) and 1 ml was harvested by centrifugation. The cell pellets were washed twice with a sterile BG-11 solution and resuspended in 200 ul of BG-11. The following was mixed in a sterile eppendorf tube: 50 ul SL906, 50 ul DH10B cells containing pMON21690, and 100 ul of a fresh culture of the slr1736 Synechocystis 6803 KO strain (O.D. 730=0.2-0.4). The cell mixture was immediately transferred to a nitrocellulose filter resting on BG-11 and incubated for 24 hours at 30 C and 2500 LUX(50 ue) of light. The filter was then transferred to BG-11 supplemented with 10 ug/ml Gentamycin and incubated as above for 5 days. When colonies appeared, they were picked and grown up in liquid BG-11+Gentamycin 10 ug/ml. (Elhai, J. and Wolk, P. 1988. Conjugal transfer of DNA to Cyanobacteria. Methods in Enzymology 167, 747-54) The liquid cultures were then assayed for tocopherols by harvesting 1 ml of culture by centrifugation, extracting with ethanol/pyrogallol, and HPLC separation. The slr1736 Synechocystis 6803 KO strain, did not contain any detectable tocopherols, while the slr1736 Synechocystis 6803 KO strain transformed with pmon21690 contained detectable alpha tocopherol. A Synechocystis 6803 strain transformed with psl1211 (vector control) produced alpha tocopherol as well.

4E: Additional Evidence of Prenyltransferase Activity

To test the hypothesis that slr1736 or ATPT2 are sufficient as single genes to obtain phytyl prenyltransferase activity, both genes were expressed in SF9 cells and in yeast. When either slr1736 or ATPT2 were expressed in insect cells (Table 5) or in yeast, phytyl prenyltransferase activity was detectable in membrane preparations, whereas membrane preparations of the yeast vector control, or membrane preparations of insect cells did not exhibit phytyl prenyltransferase activity.

TABLE 5 Phytyl prenyltransferase activity Enzyme activity Enzyme source [pmol/mg x h] slr1736 expressed in SF9 cells 20 ATPT2 expressed in SF9 cells 6 SF9 cell control <0.05 Synechocystis 6803 0.25 Spinach chloroplasts 0.20

Example 5 Transgenic Plant Analysis

5A. Arabidopsis

Arabidopsis plants transformed with constructs for the sense or antisense expression of the ATPT proteins were analyzed by High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) for altered levels of total tocopherols, as well as altered levels of specific tocopherols (alpha, beta, gamma, and delta tocopherol).

Extracts of leaves and seeds were prepared for HPLC as follows. For seed extracts, 10 mg of seed was added to 1 g of microbeads (Biospec) in a sterile microfuge tube to which 500 ul 1% pyrogallol (Sigma Chem)/ethanol was added. The mixture was shaken for 3 minutes in a mini Beadbeater (Biospec) on “fast” speed. The extract was filtered through a 0.2 μm filter into an autosampler tube. The filtered extracts were then used in HPLC analysis described below.

Leaf extracts were prepared by mixing 30-50 mg of leaf tissue with 1 g microbeads and freezing in liquid nitrogen until extraction. For extraction, 500 ul 1% pyrogallol in ethanol was added to the leaf/bead mixture and shaken for 1 minute on a Beadbeater (Biospec) on “fast” speed. The resulting mixture was centrifuged for 4 minutes at 14,000 rpm and filtered as described above prior to HPLC analysis.

HPLC was performed on a Zorbax silica HPLC column (4.6 mm×250 mm) with a fluorescent detection, an excitation at 290 nm, an emission at 336 nm, and bandpass and slits. Solvent A was hexane and solvent B was methyl-t-butyl ether. The injection volume was 20 ul, the flow rate was 1.5 ml/min, the run time was 12 min (40° C.) using the gradient (Table 6):

TABLE 6 Time Solvent A Solvent B  0 min. 90% 10% 10 min. 90% 10% 11 min. 25% 75% 12 min. 90% 10%

Tocopherol standards in 1% pyrogallov ethanol were also run for comparison (alpha tocopherol, gamma tocopherol, beta tocopherol, delta tocopherol, and tocopherol (tocol) (all from Matreya).

Standard curves for alpha, beta, delta, and gamma tocopherol were calculated using Chemstation software. The absolute amount of component x is: Absolute amount of x=Response_(×)×RF_(x) x dilution factor where Response_(x) is the area of peak x, RF_(x) is the response factor for component x (Amount_(x)/Response_(x)) and the dilution factor is 500 ul. The ng/mg tissue is found by: total ng component/mg plant tissue.

Results of the HPLC analysis of seed extracts of transgenic Arabidopsis lines containing pMON10822 for the expression of ATPT2 from the napin promoter are provided in FIG. 24.

HPLC analysis results of segregating T2 Arabidopsis seed tissue expressing the ATPT2 sequence from the napin promoter (pCGN10822) demonstrates an increased level of tocopherols in the seed. Total tocopherol levels are increased as much as 50% over the total tocopherol levels of non-transformed (wild-type) Arabidopsis plants (FIG. 25). Homozygous progeny from the top 3 lines (T3 seed) have up to a two-fold (100%) increase in total tocopherol levels over control Arabidopsis seed (FIG. 26.)

Furthermore, increases of particular tocopherols are also increased in transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing the ATPT2 nucleic acid sequence from the napin promoter. Levels of delta tocopherol in these lines are increased greater than 3 fold over the delta tocopherol levels obtained from the seeds of wild type Arabidopsis lines. Levels of gamma tocopherol in transgenic Arabidopsis lines expressing the ATPT2 nucleic acid sequence are increased as much as about 60% over the levels obtained in the seeds of non-transgenic control lines. Furthermore, levels of alpha tocopherol are increased as much as 3 fold over those obtained from non-transgenic control lines.

Results of the HPLC analysis of seed extracts of transgenic Arabidopsis lines containing pCGN10803 for the expression of ATPT2 from the enhanced 35S promoter (antisense orientation ) are provided in FIG. 25. Two lines were identified that have reduced total tocopherols, up to a ten-fold decrease observed in T3 seed compared to control Arabidopsis (FIG. 27.)

5B. Canola

Brassica napus, variety SP30021, was transformed with pCGN10822 (napin-ATPT2-napin 3′, sense orientation) using Agrobacterium lumefaciens-mediated transformation. Flowers of the R0 plants were tagged upon pollination and developing seed was collected at 35 and 45 days after pollination (DAP).

Developing seed was assayed for tocopherol levels, as described above for Arabidopsis. Line 10822-1 shows a 20% increase of total tocopherols, compared to the wild-type control, at 45 DAP. FIG. 28 shows total tocopherol levels measured in developing canola seed.

Example 6 Sequences to Tocopherol Cyclase

6A. Preparation of the slr1737 Knockout

The Synechocystis sp. 6803 slr1737 knockout was constructed by the following method. The GPS™-1 Genome Priming System (New England Biolabs) was used to insert, by a Tn7 Transposase system, a Kanamycin resistance cassette into slr1737. A plasmid from a Synechocystis genomic library clone containing 652 base pairs of the targeted orf (Synechocystis genome base pairs 1324051-1324703; the predicted orf base pairs 1323672-1324763, as annotated by Cyanobase) was used as target DNA. The reaction was performed according to the manufacturers protocol. The reaction mixture was then transformed into E. coli DH10B electrocompetant cells and plated. Colonies from this transformation were then screened for transposon insertions into the target sequence by amplifying with M13 Forward and Reverse Universal primers, yielding a product of 652 base pairs plus ˜1700 base pairs, the size of the transposon kanamycin cassette, for a total fragment size of ˜2300 base pairs. After this determination, it was then necessary to determine the approximate location of the insertion within the targeted orf, as 100 base pairs of orf sequence was estimated as necessary for efficient homologous recombination in Synechocystis. This was accomplished through amplification reactions using either of the primers to the ends of the transposon, Primer S (5′ end) or N (3′ end), in combination with either a M13 Forward or Reverse primer. That is, four different primer combinations were used to map each potential knockout construct: Primer S-M13 Forward, Primer S-M13 Reverse, Primer N-M13 Forward, Primer N-M13 Reverse. The construct used to transform Synechocystis and knockout sir1737 was determined to consist of a approximately 150 base pairs of slr1737 sequence on the 5′ side of the transposon insertion and approximately 500 base pairs on the 3′ side, with the transcription of the orf and kanamycin cassette in the same direction. The nucleic acid sequence of slr1737 is provided in SEQ ID NO:38 the deduced amino acid sequence is provided in SEQ ID NO:39.

Cells of Synechocystis 6803 were grown to a density of ˜2×10⁸ cells per ml and harvested by centrifigation. The cell pellet was re-suspended in fresh BG-11 medium at a density of 1×10⁹ cells per ml and used immediately for transformation. 100 ul of these cells were mixed with 5 ul of mini prep DNA and incubated with light at 30 C for 4 hours. This mixture was then plated onto nylon filters resting on BG-11 agar supplemented with TES ph8 and allowed to grow for 12-18 hours. The filters were then transferred to BG-11 agar+TES+5 ug/ml kanamycin and allowed to grow until colonies appeared within 7-10 days (Packer and Glazer, 1988). Colonies were then picked into BG-11 liquid media containing 5 ug/ml kanamycin and allowed to grow for 5 days. These cells were then transferred to Bg-11 media containing 10 ug/ml kanamycin and allowed to grow for 5 days and then transferred to Bg-11+kanamycin at 25 ug/ml and allowed to grow for 5 days. Cells were then harvested for PCR analysis to determine the presence of a disrupted ORF and also for HPLC analysis to determine if the disruption had any effect on tocopherol levels.

PCR analysis of the Synechocystis isolates, using primers to the ends of the slr1737 orf, showed complete segregation of the mutant genome, meaning no copies of the wild type genome could be detected in these strains. This suggests that function of the native gene is not essential for cell function. HPLC analysis of the strain carrying the knockout for slr1737 produced no detectable levels of tocopherol.

6B. The Relation of slr1737 and slr1736

The slr1737 gene occurs in Synechocystis downstream and in the same orientation as slr1736, the phytyl prenyltransferase. In bacteria this proximity often indicates an operon structure and therefore an expression pattern that is linked in all genes belonging to this operon. Occasionally such operons contain several genes that are required to constitute one enzyme. To confirm that slr1737 is not required for phytyl prenyltransferase activity, phytyl prenyltransferase was measured in extracts from the Synechocystis slr1737 knockout mutant. FIG. 29 shows that extracts from the Synechocystis slr1737 knockout mutant still contain phytyl prenyltransferase activity. The molecular organization of genes in Synechocystis 6803 is shown in A. FIGS. B and C show HPLC traces (normal phase HPLC) of reaction products obtained with membrane preparations from Synechocystis wild type and slr1737 membrane preparations, respectively.

The fact that slr1737 is not required for the PPT activity provides additional data that ATPT2 and slr1736 encode phytyl prenyltransferases.

6C Synechocystis Knockouts

Synechocystis 6803 wild type and Synechocystis slr1737 knockout mutant were grown photoautotrophically. Cells from a 20 ml culture of the late logarithmic growth phase were harvested and extracted with ethanol. Extracts were separated by isocratic normal-phase HPLC using a Hexane/Methyl-t-butyl ether (95/5) and a Zorbax silica column, 4.6×250 mm. Tocopherols and tocopherol intermediates were detected by fluorescence (excitement 290 nm, emission 336 nm) (FIG. 30).

Extracts of Synechocystis 6803 contained a clear signal of alpha-tocopherol. 2,3-Dimethyl-5-phytylplastoquinol was below the limit of detection in extracts from the Synechocystis wild type (C). In contrast, extracts from the Synechocystis slr1737 knockout mutant did not contain alpha-tocopherol, but contained 2,3-dimethyl-5-phytylplastoquinol (D), indicating that the interruption of slr1737 has resulted in a block of the 2,3-dimethyl-5-phytylplastoquinol cyclase reaction.

Chromatograms of standard compounds alpha, beta, gamma, delta-tocopherol and 2,3-dimethyl-5-phytylplastoquinol are shown in A and B. Chromatograms of extracts form Synechocystis wild type and the Synechocystis slr1737 knockout mutant are shown in C and D, respectively. Abbreviations: 2,3-DMPQ, 2,3-dimethyl-5-phytylplastoquinol.

6D. Incubation with Lysozyme Treated Synechocystis

Synechocystis 6803 wild type and slr1737 knockout mutant cells from the late logarithmic growth phase (approximately 1 g wet cells per experiment in a total volume of 3 ml) were treated with Lysozyme and subsequently incubated with S-adenosylmethionine, and phytylpyrophosphate, plus radiolabelled homogentisic acid. After 17 h incubation in the dark at room temperature the samples were extracted with 6 ml chloroform/methanol (½ v/v). Phase separation was obtained by the addition of 6 ml 0.9% NaCl solution. This procedure was repeated three times. Under these conditions 2,3dimethyl-5-phytylplastoquinol is oxidized to form 2,3-dimethyl-5-phytylplastoquinone.

The extracts were analyzed by normal phase and reverse phase HPLC. Using extracts from wild type Synechocystis cells radiolabelled gamma-tocopherol and traces of radiolabelled 2,3-dimethyl-5-phytylplastoquinone were detected. When extracts from the slr1737 knockout mutant were analyzed, only radiolabelled 2,3-dimethyl-5-phytylplastoquinone was detectable. The amount of 2,3-dimethyl-5-phytylplastoquinone was significantly increased compared to wild type extracts. Heat treated samples of the wild type and the slr1737 knockout mutant did not produce radiolabelled 2,3-dimethyl-5-phytylplastoquinone, nor radiolabelled tocopherols. These results further support the role of the slr1737 expression product in the cyclization of 2,3-dimethyl-5-phytylplastoquinol.

6E. Arabidopsis Homologue to slr1737

An Arabidopsis homologue to slr1737 was identified from a BLASTALL search using Synechocystis sp 6803 gene slr1737 as the query, in both public and proprietary databases. SEQ ID NO: 109 and SEQ ID NO: 110 are the DNA and translated amino acid sequences, respectively, of the Arabidopsis homologue to slr1737. The start if found at the ATG at base 56 in SEQ ID NO:109.

The sequences obtained for the homologue from the proprietary database differs from the public database (F4D11.30, BAC AL022537), in having a start site 471 base pairs upstream of the start identified in the public sequence. A comparison of the public (SEQ ID NO: 112) and proprietary (SEQ ID NO: 113) sequences is provided in FIG. 31. The correct start correlates within the public database sequence at 12080, while the public sequence start is given as being at 11609.

Attempts to amplify a slr1737 homologue were unsuccessful using primers designed from the public database, while amplification of the gene was accomplished with primers obtained from SEQ ID NO: 109.

Analysis of the protein sequence to identify transit peptide sequence predicted two potential cleavage sites, one between amino acids 48 and 49, and the other between amino acids 98 and 99.

6F. slr1737 Protein Information

The slr1737 orf comprises 363 amino acid residues and has a predicted MW of 41 kDa (SEQ ID NO: 39). Hydropathic analysis indicates the protein is hydrophillic (FIG. 32).

The Arabidopsis homologue to slr1737 (SEQ ID NO: 110) comprises 488 amino acid residues, has a predicted MW of 55 kDa, and has a putative transit peptide sequence comprising the first 98 amino acids. The predicted MW of the mature form of the Arabidopsis homologue is 44 kDa. The hydropathic plot for the Arabidopsis homologue also reveals that it is hydrophillic (FIG. 33). Further blast analysis of the Arabidopsis homologue reveals limited sequence identity (25% sequence identity) with the beta-subunit of respiratory nitrate reductase. Based on the sequence identity to nitrate reductase, it suggests the slr1737 ORF is an enzyme that likely involves general acid catalysis mechanism.

Investigation of known enzymes involved in tocopherol metabolism indicated that the best candidate corresponding to the general acid mechanism is the tocopherol cyclase. There are many known examples of cyclases including, tocopherol cyclase, chalcone isomerase, lycopene cyclase, and aristolochene synthase. By further examination of the microscopic catalytic mechanism of phytoplastoquinol cyclization, as an example, chalcone isomerase has a catalytic mechanism most similar to tocopherol cyclase. (FIG. 34).

Multiple sequence alignment was performed between slr1737 (SEQ ID NO: 39), slr1737 Arabidopsis homologue (SEQ ID NO: 110) and the Arabidopsis chalcone isomerase (SEQ ID NO: 111) (Genbank:P41088) (FIG. 35). Sixty-five percent of the conserved residues among the three enzymes are strictly conserved within the known chalcone isomerases. The crystal structure of alfalfa chalcone isomerase has been solved (Jez, Joseph M., Bowman, Marianne E., Dixon, Richard A., and Noel, Joseph P. (2000) “Structure and mechanism of the evolutionarily unique plant enzyme chalcone isomerase”. Nature Structural Biology 7: 786-791.) It has been demonstrated that tyrosine (Y) 106 of the alfalfa chalcone isomerase serves as the general acid during cyclization reaction (Genbank: P28012). The equivalent residue in slr1737 (SEQ ID NO: 39), and the slr1737 Arabidopsis homologue (SEQ ID NO: 110) is lysine (K), which is an excellent catalytic residue as general acid.

The information available from partial purification of tocopherol cyclase from Chlorella protothecoides (U.S. Pat. No. 5,432,069), i.e., described as being glycine rich, water soluble and with a predicted MW of 48-50 kDa, is consistent with the protein informatics information obtained for the slr1737 and the Arabidopsis slr1737 homologue.

All publications and patent applications mentioned in this specification are indicative of the level of skill of those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains. All publications and patent applications are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.

Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity of understanding, it will be obvious that certain changes and modifications may be practiced within the scope of the appended claim. 

1. An isolated nucleic acid molecule encoding a tocopherol cyclase, wherein the isolated nucleic acid molecule is operably linked to a heterologous promoter functional in a plant and wherein said nucleic acid molecule encodes an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:
 39. 2. The isolated nucleic acid molecule of claim 1, wherein said tocopherol cyclase is encoded by a nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:
 38. 3. An isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleic acid sequence which is at least 95% identical over its entire length to the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 38, wherein the isolated nucleic acid molecule is operably linked to a heterologous promoter functional in a plant.
 4. The isolated nucleic acid molecule of claim 3, wherein said nucleic acid molecule encodes a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:
 39. 5. An isolated nucleic acid molecule which encodes a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence which is at least 90% identical over its entire length to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 39, wherein the isolated nucleic acid molecule is operably linked to a heterologous promoter functional in a plant. 